Short answer: If you live outside the US, set things up in this order: create the US Associates account → finish the US tax interview → add your bank details → finish the Canada tax interview → link any store you already have that is not covered (in our example, Japan) → check Global Earning. On September 29, 2026, Amazon's Global Earning page said US creators are signed up automatically and can earn in 10 markets from one account: the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden.[4]
The example in this guide is a person living in Japan who already had a Japanese Associates account. The US tax steps work the same way for anyone who is not a US person.
1. The US program is a separate account
The first trap: an Associates account in another country does not log you in to Amazon.com Associates.
If the US site says your email "is not connected to an Associates account", your password is probably fine. You most likely just have not created a US Associates account yet.
Resetting your password five times will not create one.
Old signup links can also land you on Amazon's 404 page with the dog. The dog is cute. Your setup has not moved.
Start fresh from Amazon.com Associates Central.
2. Sign up: what goes in each box
First, the person who gets paid:
- Payee Name: your legal name
- Address: where you actually live, written in Latin letters
- Country: the country you live in
- Phone: with your country code
- Main contact: "The payee listed above" if the money comes to you
Next, add the website where you will put Amazon links. If your site is not mainly made for children under 13, answer that question the way it really is.
In Profile, enter the Store ID you want, describe your site and pick a content type. For guides, comparisons, information articles and tools, "Content or Niche Website" is usually the closest. Amazon may add a market ending to the final Store ID.
When you finish, you get an Associate ID. It feels like you're done. You're not.
3. US tax interview (W-8BEN): answer with your own facts
If you are an individual and not a US person, Amazon's tax interview will normally lead you to the W-8BEN form.[2][3]
Expect questions like these:
- Individual or Business
- whether you are a US citizen, a green card holder or a US resident for tax
- whether you are collecting the money for someone else (the form says "intermediary")
- your legal name
- your citizenship
- your permanent address
- your tax number from your own country (shown as "Non-US TIN")
- where you do the work
Do not copy someone else's "right answers" from a screenshot. Answer what is true for you.
If you really do all the work outside the US, choose "All services will be performed outside the U.S." If the money is yours and comes to you, you are not collecting it for someone else.
At the end you see a preview of the W-8BEN. If the tax treaty part looks empty, do not go hunting for a question that is not on the screen. Submit through the interview, then check that your status says "Verified" and look at the withholding rate shown. Amazon says that if a non-US person does not give the right tax information, up to 30% can be held back from US commissions.[2]
4. Bank details: "Confirm account number" is the same number again
In payment settings you add your bank account. A clumsy translation of the page can make this step confusing.
If you see "Account number" and then "Confirm account number", the second box just wants the same account number typed again. It is normal if only the second box hides what you type.
For account type, pick the type your bank actually shows for your account. Don't guess from a strange translation.
After saving, open Account Settings and check that the payment method is active.
5. Canada wants its own tax interview
Just when the US tax part is done, a second round shows up. Amazon's Global Earning page says Canada is currently the only market that needs extra tax information.[4]
For an individual living outside Canada, the questions can include:
- what kind of taxpayer you are
- which country you live in for tax
- whether you have a fixed place of business in Canada (shown as "Permanent establishment")
- whether you are collecting the money for someone else
- whether the money really belongs to you (shown as "Beneficial owner")
- whether you want a lower rate under a tax treaty
- whether you have a Canadian Social Insurance Number (shown as "SIN")
- your tax number from your own country
- whether you are registered for Canadian sales tax (shown as "GST/HST")
- whether you want your tax forms by email
This is not a game where you click "No" until Submit lights up.
If you have no place of business in Canada, say so. If the commissions are really your own money, you are the "beneficial owner". Only ask for the lower treaty rate if you actually qualify. Canada's tax agency says the lower rate depends on the money really being yours, living in a country with a tax treaty with Canada, and being eligible for that treaty.[5]
Answer the Social Insurance Number and sales tax questions with what you actually have.
6. Linking a store that is not in Global Earning (example: Japan)
In our example, the person also had a Japanese Associates account. On the US side, go to Manage My Account → "Link Stores".
Add the Japanese Store ID. It may show as PENDING at first. Click "Please Verify", which takes you to the Japanese Associates site, and confirm with your own Japanese account.
Then refresh the US page.
If "OneLink - Tracking ID Preferences" now shows only Japan, nothing is broken. That page is only for choosing the default Tracking ID of stores you linked one by one.
This is the moment everyone asks: "Wait, where are Canada, the UK and France?"
7. Why help pages say 6 countries but the screen says 10
Amazon's official help still describes the older OneLink setup for Canada plus five European stores, 6 in total.[6]
But the Global Earning page in Associates Central on September 29, 2026 said all US creators are signed up automatically, with no extra accounts and no new links needed.[4]
The 10 markets were:
- United States
- Canada
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- France
- Italy
- Spain
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Sweden
So if Global Earning is on for your US account, stop digging for a screen with a checkbox for each country.
When a shopper abroad clicks your US link, Amazon sends them to the same product in their local Amazon store. If there is no exact match, it shows a similar product, and if there is none, search results.[4]
Japan is not one of these 10, which is why the example linked its Japanese Store ID separately.
8. Each country pays you separately
Global Earning makes management easier, but your earnings are not merged into one payment.
Amazon says each country handles its own payments and pays you separately once you reach that country's payment threshold.[4]
So don't assume Global Earning means you never need to look at payments again. Check Payment Settings for each market you earn in, and finish the Canada tax interview.
9. The whole setup in four boxes
Japan (the example's extra store) → Japanese Associates Store ID → linked from the US side with Link Stores
United States → your Amazon.com Associate ID → the center of Global Earning
Global Earning → US / Canada / UK / Germany / France / Italy / Spain / Netherlands / Poland / Sweden → US creators signed up automatically on the current screens → your existing US links send shoppers to their local store
Tax → US: tax interview → Canada: an extra tax interview → other Global Earning countries: no extra tax information, according to the current page[4]
Once you see the four boxes, the screens stop looking like a pile of random links.
10. Not approved yet: 3 sales in 180 days
Finishing the signup is not final approval.
According to Amazon's Application Review Process, your site is reviewed after you make at least 3 qualifying sales within the first 180 days. Your own orders don't count. Your site needs original content that is public, and Amazon mentions about 10 posts as a rough guide.[1]
So the next job is not opening the settings page 47 more times.
It is writing things people actually read, and placing Amazon links only where they really help that reader.
The settings were the tutorial. The real game starts now.
11. Looks broken, but isn't
The US site says your email has no Associates account → Normal if you have not signed up for the US program yet.
An old signup link shows a 404 page with a dog → The dog is fine. The link is old.
The tax treaty part of the W-8BEN is empty → Don't look for a missing question. Check the final verified result of the tax interview.
"Confirm account number" hides what you type → It is the same account number again, not a second account.
OneLink is missing from Tools → It can be reached from Link Stores or "Enroll in OneLink". And today Global Earning does most of the work automatically.
Tracking ID Preferences shows only Japan → It only lists stores you linked one by one.
Canada tax status says Incomplete → Canada needs its own extra tax interview for Global Earning.
Some pages say 6 countries for OneLink, others say 10 markets for Global Earning → Older help pages and the newer Global Earning screens exist side by side. This is the most confusing part.
The hardest part of the setup was not the tax words. It was figuring out which generation of Amazon's screens you were looking at.
