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October 2025 Seller Update: Italy VAT, Amazon Variations, TikTok AI
Financial guarantee requirement for non-EU businesses in Italy under legal review
Non-European Union businesses trading in Italy have been given some hope in an ongoing legal battle over Italy’s controversial VAT guarantee requirement. Italy’s Council of State (Consiglio di Stato) has overturned a decision by the regional court and ordered a full legal hearing into whether the €50,000 guarantee policy is proportionate and lawful.
The guarantee policy, which took effect from 13 June 2025, requires all non-EU businesses registering for VAT via a fiscal representative to provide a minimum €50,000 financial guarantee in order to maintain VIES status, which is vital for intra-EU trade. Under Italian VAT regulations, all non-EU businesses (except those based in jurisdictions with a mutual tax agreement) must appoint a fiscal representative to handle the VAT registration and compliance process.
The regulation caused widespread concern, particularly amongst small and mid-size businesses, many of which argued that the minimum requirement of €50,000 was disproportionate and would negatively impact their operations.
The legal review means that enforcement of the financial guarantee requirement could potentially be postponed or revised in the future. The regional court has indicated that it will re-hear the case later in 2025.
Businesses should, however, continue to prepare to comply with the guarantee requirements for the time being, or consider alternatives such as setting up an EU entity, or using the VAT One Stop Shop programme.
https://marosavat.com/italy-guarantee-fiscal-representation-non-eu-vies/
Amazon to retire obsolete variation themes
Sellers on Amazon are being urged to take action ahead of a major change to product listings.
From 30 November 2025, obsolete product variation themes will be permanently retired. This move will affect more than 1,800 product categories. These include popular items such as 3D printers, air fryers and baby strollers. The clean-up will take place gradually between 2 September and 30 November 2025. During this period, Amazon will begin phasing out older variation themes across its marketplace.
After the final cut-off date, sellers who continue to update their listings using these retired themes will encounter error messages. This means that existing parent-child ASIN relationships will automatically be split, with any child ASINs being converted into standalone products.
Amazon has advised sellers to follow a four-step correction process to avoid disruption. This includes deleting existing parent ASINs, cleaning up associated child ASIN data, rebuilding compliant parent ASINs, and then reattaching the relevant child ASINs.
The platform has explained that the decision is aimed at standardising variation structures and preventing unrelated products from being grouped together in error.
However, analysts note that the move may have significant consequences for merchants who rely heavily on variation relationships. These links not only affect sales rankings but also influence the way customer reviews are shared between products.
With just over two months before the change is enforced, Amazon sellers are being strongly encouraged to review their catalogues now and take corrective action in order to safeguard sales performance and listing visibility.
https://www.amz123.com/kx/ODteUnaC
TikTok Shop mandates use of AI advertising tools
As of 1 September 2025, all brands running paid campaigns on TikTok Shop are now required to use the platform’s proprietary AI advertising system, GMV Max.
Originally launched in 2024, GMV Max is designed to automate advertising management with the goal of maximising sales. Merchants simply choose the products they want to promote, set a budget and a return-on-investment target, and the system takes over. Using its own algorithms, TikTok will either optimise existing creatives or generate new ones automatically.
While TikTok claims this approach streamlines advertising, the announcement has divided opinion.
Large brands and agencies have voiced concern about reduced control over strategy and limited transparency in reporting.
Many have also argued that GMV Max does not yet provide detailed insights into factors such as audience composition, geographical reach or influencer performance, information often considered critical for integrating TikTok campaigns into wider marketing plans.
Another point of contention is attribution.
TikTok currently credits all purchases made during an ad campaign to GMV Max, even if customers never saw the actual advert. Critics say this inflates results and makes it harder to measure true effectiveness. TikTok has responded by pointing to both in-house and third-party measurement tools, though some metrics are not yet available to every advertiser.
