AWS to Charge 18% VAT on Non-Registered Sri Lankan Customers

Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWSI) has announced that it will soon begin charging an 18% Value Added Tax (VAT) on all Electronically Supplied Services (ESS) provided to customers in Sri Lanka who are not registered for VAT or have failed to provide their tax details.

The move aligns with Sri Lanka’s tax regulations regarding digital and electronically supplied services by offshore entities.

The tech giant issued an urgent notice instructing customers to update their tax profiles on the AWS Billing Console before July 31, 2026.

Unregistered businesses, individual developers, and any account holders with a Sri Lankan address who have not provided a valid Tax Registration Number (TRN) will get charged with this move.

The 18% VAT will be applied directly to monthly AWS cloud service invoices as well as AWS Marketplace transactions.

While the policy update is mandatory, AWS stated that the exact implementation date for the billing charges will be communicated in a subsequent notice. No VAT will be collected until that official date is confirmed.

Customers with a registered Sri Lankan address who are operating outside the country are advised to update their Billing and Contact Address pages immediately to ensure accurate tax classification.