What does it mean to reach $10 million in annual sales on Amazon?

For many sellers, this is no longer just a “side hustle.”

The team is in place, the number of stores has increased, the supply chain has stabilized, and the volume of receivables has grown.

However, in our interactions with a large number of cross-border sellers, we have observed a very common dichotomy:The platform generates millions or even tens of millions in annual sales, yet the domestic companies used to register these stores have consistently reported zero revenue for an extended period.

Many sellers don’t realize until they receive a tax notice, prepare to apply for an export tax rebate, or see their sales grow exponentially—that their business has long since surpassed the initial 1 million mark, yet their company’s financial and tax systems are still stuck in the early startup phase.

This is what we really need to be wary of.

Annual Sales of 10 Million, Yet Zero Tax Returns FiledWhere exactly is the problem?

Let’s start by clarifying a basic concept:“Having no tax to pay for the current period” and “being able to file a zero return” are two different things.

According to the filing guidelines for enterprises subject to audited tax assessment, a zero return may only be filed if the cumulative revenue, costs, and profit for the current period are all zero.

In other words, if a company is engaged in ongoing business operations—with stores, orders, purchases, shipments, and collections—but its financial records show no revenue, no costs, and no profit for an extended period—

So the real question isn’t, “Why was it possible to file a zero-report in the past?”

Rather: “Do this company’s reported figures match its actual business operations?”

For cross-border e-commerce, this issue is particularly complex.

The complete business workflow for Amazon sellers typically involves the following:

Domestic Procurement → Export Customs Clearance → Overseas Warehouse/FBA → Platform Sales → Platform Fees → Third-Party Payment Collection → Domestic/Hong Kong Company → Repatriation of Funds

Simply checking whether funds have been received in domestic bank accounts does not provide a true picture of the company’s overall operations.

For many companies, the problem isn’t that they “have no business”—it’s that their business has moved ahead while their finances have fallen behind.

The Story Behind Long-Term Zero FilingsThere's usually more than one problem

In our interactions with cross-border sellers, we’ve found that for businesses that consistently report zero revenue over the long term, the reason is rarely as simple as “the accountant forgot to report the revenue.”

This is often due to an entire process chain that hasn't been properly streamlined.

1,The store is owned by a domestic company, but the revenue has not been recorded in the domestic accounts.

The platform store is registered under Company A, and the products are both sourced and shipped domestically; however, the platform’s payment proceeds have long been held in third-party collection accounts, Hong Kong accounts, or accounts held by other entities.

So the finance department concluded that:“If the domestic corporate bank hasn't received the funds, it won't recognize the revenue just yet.”

The problem is that determining which company a transaction belongs to cannot be based solely on which bank card the money ultimately ended up in.

It is also necessary to make a comprehensive assessment:Who signs the contract, who handles sales, who handles procurement, who bears the costs, who handles exports, who collects payments, and who bears the business risks.

2,10 million in sales, but in the end, only the “net cash receipts” were recorded in the books

This is a very common issue in cross-border e-commerce.

For example: If a platform generates 10 million in sales, after deducting commissions, advertising fees, warehousing fees, refunds, and other expenses, the actual net revenue is only 7 million.

Some companies simply equate 7 million to the company’s revenue.

However, in financial and tax accounting, the “amount received in the bank” cannot simply be equated with revenue.

Platform commissions, advertising fees, shipping costs, refunds, and other such items essentially correspond to different business transactions and must be accounted for separately based on actual transactions and applicable rules.

Otherwise, the following is likely to occur:Platform sales data is one set, payment data is another, and financial reporting is yet another.

3,There is revenue, but the purchasing department cannot obtain invoices.

This is also the biggest headache for many Amazon sellers.

Purchasing from 1688, purchasing from market stalls, purchasing from small suppliers…

The goods were actually purchased, and the money was actually paid, but there is no compliant invoice.

At this point, the company finds itself in a very awkward situation:I'm hesitant to recognize revenue because once I do, what about the costs?

So the simplest and most direct approach is to report zero income for now and continue filing zero returns. But this doesn’t really solve the problem.

On the contrary, as the business continues to grow,Issues related to procurement without invoices and revenue reporting will overlap.

Today it's 5 million; next year, if we reach 10 million or 30 million, the problems will only get harder to handle.

4,Long-term export payments have disrupted the domestic business chain

There are also many Amazon sellers who, for the sake of convenience in the early days, consistently exported their goods through freight forwarders or by paying for shipments.

The goods belong to the company, and sales on the platform are also handled by the company, but the entity used for the export process is not the company itself.

Ultimately, this can easily lead to:The purchaser is one company, the exporter is another, the platform is yet another company, and the money ultimately goes into a third account.

When viewed individually, each step seems to “work out.”

But when put together:The business processes, goods flows, cash flows, and financial data simply don't match up.

When the business is small, no one pays much attention to it, but once annual revenue reaches 10 million or more, continuing to use this approach will lead to a significant increase in management costs and compliance risks.

What the Tax Authorities Really Care AboutIt’s often not a “0”

That’s why we’ve always advised business owners not to jump to the conclusion—as soon as they see the phrase “zero filing”—that “I’m going to have to pay a lot of back taxes right away.”

A truly professional approach should not start by calculating taxes, but rather by reconstructing the company’s entire business process.

At the very least, the following sets of data should be considered together:

1,Platform data

• Who owns the store?
• What are the annual sales figures?
• How much is the refund?
• How much are the platform commission, advertising fees, and storage fees, respectively?

2,Funding Data

• Where did the platform's money go?
• Who opened the third-party payment account?
• Is the final payment made to a domestic company, a Hong Kong company, or an individual account?

3, Procurement Data

• Where do you source your goods from?
• Do you have a receipt?
• Who is the payer?
• Can the actual procurement costs be reconstructed?

4,Export Data

• How did the goods get shipped out?
• Who are the main exporters?
• What export model should be used?
• Can customs declaration data be matched with sales transactions?

5,Financial Reporting Data

• How much revenue has the domestic company reported in the past?
• What is the book value?
• How much is the profit?
• How much do these figures differ from the previous data on platforms, funding, procurement, and exports?

What really needs to be addressed is the relationship among these five sets of data.

If you fall into one of these four categories of sellersWe recommend conducting a self-inspection as soon as possible.

1,The platform has already generated significant sales, yet the domestic company has consistently reported zero sales for an extended period.

This is especially true for sellers whose annual sales have already reached several million or tens of millions.

The more pronounced the discrepancy between the scale of operations and the reported data, the more necessary it is to first clarify the historical business performance.

2,Revenue has always been recognized based on “net receipts from the platform”

Platform sales, refunds, commissions, advertising fees, and shipping costs are all lumped together,

In the end, the finance department only records the amounts credited to the collection account in the books.

In this situation, the first thing to address is:

How to correctly convert platform data into financial data.

3,Long-term procurement without invoices + export invoicing

The front-end procurement team cannot obtain invoices, the intermediary export entity is not the company itself, and the back-end platform’s revenue has not been fully recorded in the domestic accounts.

This approach often requires more than just addressing a single tax category; it involves simultaneously re-examining procurement, exports, revenue, and cash flows.

4,Multiple stores + multiple companies + a Hong Kong company all mixed together

There are more and more companies and more and more stores, but there is no clear plan outlining exactly what each entity is responsible for.

In the end, it often turns out that:

Company A opened a store,

Purchasing at Company B,

Company C receives payment,

The Hong Kong company is once again managing its cash flow.

Having more companies does not necessarily mean that risk is more diversified.

Without genuine business logic, the entire financial and tax system will actually become increasingly difficult to explain.

I want to comply nowWhat should I do?

1,First, recreate the real-world business scenario

Extract data on platform orders, sales, refunds, commissions, advertising fees, shipping costs, payment transaction history, and so on.

2,Verify the Business Entity

Determine exactly what business operations each domestic company, Hong Kong company, store, and account is responsible for.

3,Reviewing Procurement and Costs

Review procurement contracts, payments, invoices, and actual costs to address the issue of purchases made without invoices.

4,Re-examine Export Channels

Based on your actual business model, determine whether your current export methods need to be adjusted and evaluate compliance-based export solutions that are better suited to your company.

5,Recalculate historical risks and future tax burdens

Finally, based on actual business data, we determine how to handle historical accounting entries and what kind of financial and tax system should be established for the future.

The order cannot be reversed.

Because compliance is never just about “paying a little more in taxes.”

Truly mature compliance ensures that every future business transaction can proceed in a sustainable and stable manner.

Qicai Ying can help cross-border sellersWhat services do you offer?

If your company is already experiencing issues such as sustained growth in platform sales, long-term zero-reporting by domestic entities, procurement without invoices, fictitious export transactions, or confusion involving multiple business entities, we recommend that you do not address any single aspect in isolation, but rather conduct a systematic review of your entire business operations first.

1,Cross-Border E-Commerce Financial and Tax Health Check

Verify platform sales, reported revenue, cash flow, procurement costs, export data, and transactions between domestic and overseas companies,

Help businesses identify: revenue discrepancies, cost gaps, entity mismatches, and historical accounting risks.

2,Establishing an E-commerce Compliance Accounting System

For businesses operating across multiple platforms and stores—such as Amazon—we have established a system for tracking sales revenue, refunds, commissions, advertising fees, shipping costs, exchange rate differences, and store profit calculations, ensuring that business data, cash flow, and financial data are truly aligned.

3,Import, Export, and Tax Rebate Compliance Services

By taking into account corporate procurement, sales, overseas warehouses, and actual export scenarios, we assist companies in streamlining processes such as export registration, document management, export models, tax-exempt declarations, and export tax rebates.

4,Planning Compliance Structures for Domestic and Overseas Companies

For sellers with multiple stores, domestic companies, Hong Kong companies, and overseas accounts, we will reorganize the following aspects for each entity: business functions, procurement relationships, export relationships, fund flows, and financial and tax accounting methods—to prevent the business from growing in scale while its organizational structure and accounting become increasingly disorganized.

put at the end

Annual sales of 10 million with zero tax filings are just the tip of the iceberg.

This may involve a whole range of issues, including platform revenue, procurement without invoices, export models, funding channels, multi-entity structures, and historical accounting records.

The smaller the company, the easier it is to temporarily sweep many problems under the rug;

The larger a company is, the more likely it is that every obstacle left over from the past will become a barrier to future growth.

If your sales on the platform are growing rapidly, but you find that the figures for the platform, procurement, exports, collections, and reporting never seem to match up, please feel free to contact us.

While the company is still in its growth phase, take the opportunity to thoroughly review and clarify the entire business process as early as possible.