ETV and taxes: what you need to understand

ETV stands for Estimated Taxable Value. It is the value Amazon assigns to each item distributed through Vine. It is displayed next to the item before you order, then recorded against your account and added up over the year.

Why Amazon records a value at all

An item received free of charge in exchange for a service, here writing a review, is generally not treated as a gift by tax authorities. It is a benefit received in return for something. Amazon, as the party distributing that benefit, records its value and makes it available to you. What you do with it next falls under your own obligations.

One point worth grasping: ETV is not what you would have paid. It is a value Amazon assigns, and it can differ from the sale price shown when you ordered, sometimes significantly. A discounted item may carry an ETV matching its list price.

Where to find your numbers

• Before ordering, the ETV is shown on the item in the Vine catalog. That is the moment to decide whether you want it added to your annual total.
• Afterwards, your Vine account provides a summary adding up the values of items ordered over the period. The label and location vary by marketplace.

Depending on the country, Amazon may also issue a tax document. In the United States a form is issued above a reporting threshold, and that threshold has been revised in recent years, so check the current figure rather than a number quoted in a forum. In Europe the mechanics are different and there is no systematic equivalent: it is on you to pull your summary and find out how it is treated locally.

The practical consequence

Many members discover their annual total late in the year and find it higher than expected. The mechanism is simple: an item with a 150 ETV, ordered because it was available rather than because it was needed, adds 150 to a running total with no cash coming in to match it. The decision therefore has to be made item by item, at the moment of ordering.

Hence a habit common among experienced members: set thresholds. A value below which you are not interested, and a value above which you require a genuine need. That avoids the double loss of a rising ETV total and items you do nothing with.

What nobody can answer for you

The following depend on your situation and will not be reliably answered on a forum:

• Which category of income the total attaches to, if any.
• Whether a threshold exists below which nothing is expected of you.
• Whether regular, substantial activity changes the nature of the arrangement.
• How to treat an item returned, defective, or never delivered.

Rules differ between the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, and several have been amended recently. Two members comparing notes on a forum are frequently describing two different regulatory situations without realising it.

The sound approach: pull your annual summary from your Vine account, then ask the question with that document in hand, to your tax authority or a professional. That is the only way to get an answer you can actually rely on.

Staying in control of your total

Since the decision happens at order time, the point is not to order in a hurry. Members who keep their total under control rely on two things: a threshold rule decided in advance, and a record of what has already been ordered with the associated values.

SuperViner Pro applies those thresholds automatically, including per category, and keeps a catalog of everything that came through with its ETV, brand and order status. The aim is not to order more, but to order only what matches rules you set while thinking clearly.