KDP account setup: tax interview, getting paid and what gets accounts stuck

What you need before you click Sign up

Setting up a KDP account takes about ten minutes. Fixing the wrong data afterward can take weeks, and your royalties wait until it's fixed. So get these ready first:

• Your legal name, spelled exactly as on your government ID. Not your pen name.
• Your address, the same one your bank or payment provider has on file.
• A phone number that you'll keep and that isn't tied to another Amazon account.
• A bank account or an approved payment provider account for royalties, with the account number and routing (or SWIFT/IBAN) details.
• Your tax ID. In the US that's your SSN (Social Security number) or EIN (Employer Identification Number, a business tax ID). Outside the US, KDP accepts a US TIN (taxpayer identification number) or the tax number from your own country (more on that below).
• A physical government ID (passport or driver's license) in case KDP asks you to verify your identity.

According to KDP Help (as of September 2026), KDP needs "your name, address, and phone number", "your bank account and routing number information" and your tax information. It also warns: "Don't enter your pen name in your account details. We issue your payments and tax forms under the name listed in your account details." Your pen name goes on each book, not in the account.

This article describes how KDP works and what we do on our own accounts. It isn't legal or tax advice. For your own tax situation, talk to an accountant.

Three small decisions that save you weeks

Keep the site in English

Browser auto-translate renames the form fields, and people end up typing a surname into the city field. If a word is unclear, translate it separately. Correcting data that's already under review takes much longer.

Use a dedicated email address

We set up a new email address just for KDP. There are two reasons. Amazon sends a lot of mail, and some of it has deadlines, like "update your tax info within 30 days". In a busy personal inbox those get lost. And an address used for years of shopping is often tied to other Amazon accounts, which can cause confusion later.

You can change the email and phone number on the account later.

Use a real phone number

Use a working number that isn't linked to another Amazon account. We don't recommend virtual or online numbers. You can lose access to them right when you need the code, in the middle of verification.

Step by step: creating the account

Step 1. Go to kdp.amazon.com. If you already have an Amazon customer account, you can sign in with it. If not, click Sign up, then Create your KDP account (KDP Help: Create a KDP account).

Step 2. Enter your name, email and password.

Step 3. Enter the one-time code KDP sends to your email.

Step 4. Accept the Terms and Conditions. You land on your Bookshelf, where your books will live.

Step 5. Open Your Account and fill in three sections: Account Details, Getting Paid and Tax Information. You can't publish until all three are complete.

Two-step verification: the first place people get stuck

KDP asks for a one-time code every time you open Your Account. Per KDP Help (as of September 2026): "Two-step verification is not required to sign in to KDP. It's only required when you access Your Account page in KDP."

There are three ways to get the code: text message, voice call or an authenticator app. KDP recommends adding a backup method, "such as additional phone number or authenticator app". We use an authenticator app on every account. It works without a cell signal, and the code doesn't depend on your carrier or on which country you're in that day.

If the code still doesn't arrive, check three things in this order:

1. The country code in front of your number is correct.
2. Your carrier isn't blocking short-code messages from abroad.
3. The number isn't already linked to another Amazon account, even an old shopping account.

Account Details: your legal name, exactly

Business type. You choose Individual or Corporation. Most new authors choose Individual. You don't need a company to publish on KDP. When an LLC makes sense, and when it doesn't, is covered in do you need an LLC for Amazon KDP.

Name. KDP says "The name provided in the Account Details should be the legal name of the author." Copy it from your ID letter for letter. If your passport says Dariia, don't type Daria or Darya because that's how you sign emails. To Amazon those are different people, and the payment will stall when the name doesn't match your bank.

Address. Use the address your bank or payment provider has. If KDP later asks you to verify your identity, it wants the address field to match your ID. See What if my account name or country is different from my ID?

Getting Paid: where your royalties go

You pick the country where your bank is, the account type (checking or savings), and enter the account number and routing number. Five things to know:

It's an account number, not a card number. This is the most common mistake we see. On a US check, the routing number is the first set of digits and the account number is the second.

The account holder name must match. KDP Help says the bank account holder's name must match your account records exactly (Create a KDP account).

Direct deposit has no minimum. KDP calls direct deposit (EFT) "the fastest, secure way to receive your royalty payments", with no minimum payment threshold. Wire transfers and checks have thresholds, and checks aren't available to new EU and UK accounts (KDP Payment Options, as of September 2026).

Since August 1, 2026, payment providers must be on Amazon's list. If your royalties go to a payment service provider rather than a bank, that provider now has to be in Amazon's Payment Service Provider Program. From KDP Help (as of September 2026): as of August 1, 2026, Amazon no longer pays to accounts with non-participating providers or without completed know-your-customer checks. If you use "an account which you opened directly with a deposit-taking bank (such as HSBC, First National Bank, Bank of America), no action is required." If your provider isn't listed, KDP says to "switch to a participating PSP or use an account which you opened directly with a deposit-taking bank as soon as possible." Payoneer and Wise are both on the list. Revolut isn't on it, but an EU Revolut account with its own IBAN can be used as a regular bank account. What else changed in 2026 is in KDP rule changes in 2026.

You can add more than one account. As the screenshot shows, KDP lets you add another bank account for a country or region. We route some marketplaces to different accounts. For example, US royalties go to one provider and UK royalties to another, in the local currency. If you do this, check that each marketplace gets an account in its own currency. A pound-sterling marketplace needs pound details, not dollar details.

Where payments stall in our experience:

• the name on the payment account doesn't match the name in KDP;
• one currency's details were entered for another marketplace;
• one digit of the account number is wrong. The payment simply fails, and you find out two months later when the first royalty was due.

Fill in this screen slowly and check it twice.

The KDP tax interview

Open Your Account → Tax Information → Complete Tax Profile. KDP walks you through questions and generates the right IRS form from your answers (KDP Help: Complete Tax Profile). You sign it electronically. There's nothing to mail.

Which form you end up with (KDP Tax Information Interview Guide):

For US authors. Once your tax profile is valid, royalties aren't subject to US withholding (KDP Tax Withholding). If the TIN you enter doesn't exactly match IRS records, KDP gives you 30 days to update it: "We must receive updated information within this period, or we will suspend your ability to publish on KDP." The most common cause is a name that doesn't match the SSN or EIN record.

For non-US authors. Royalties from eBook sales on Amazon.com, and print sales on Amazon.com, .co.jp, .com.au and .ca, are subject to 30% US withholding unless you qualify for a treaty rate. You claim it on the W-8BEN. KDP accepts a US TIN or "the income tax identification number issued to you by the tax authority in your country of residence" (KDP Tax Withholding, as of September 2026). You don't need to get an ITIN (the IRS tax number for people who can't get a Social Security number) just for KDP. The W-8 expires "on the last day of the third succeeding calendar year from the date signed", so put a reminder in your calendar. The full picture for authors outside the US is in Amazon KDP for non-US authors.

When the interview is done, the Tax Information status should read Complete.

Year-end forms. KDP issues Form 1099-MISC to US publishers by January 31 and Form 1042-S to non-US publishers by March 15 (KDP Year End Tax Forms). Your taxes at home are between you and your accountant. KDP only handles the US reporting side.

Identity verification

KDP may ask you to verify your identity at setup or later on. According to KDP Help (as of September 2026), you'll need a physical government-issued ID, "such as a passport or driver's license". Photos of digital or paper IDs aren't accepted. You may also be asked for a selfie. "The name and country in the Your identity section on your account must match the name and country of your ID."

If KDP asks for documents, send them right away, and send exactly the document your account data came from. In our experience, ignoring the request or sending a "similar" document ends badly.

What gets new accounts closed

A closed account usually isn't restored, and your books, reviews and rankings go with it. The reasons at the setup stage all look like an attempt to get around the rules.

A second account. The KDP Terms and Conditions are explicit: "You may maintain only one account at a time. If we terminate your account, you will not establish a new account." (KDP Terms and Conditions, section 4.2, last updated September 27, 2024). In our experience, Amazon links accounts through email, phone, payment details and address.

Someone else's data. Registering in a relative's name "because they have a bank account", or with a made-up name. It comes out at identity verification, and nothing can be fixed at that point.

Shared access. The Terms also say: "You may not permit any third party to use the Program through your account and will not use the account of any third party" (section 4.3). Several people logging in from different devices and countries can also look like a hacked account.

Constant country-hopping. Logging in once from abroad while traveling is normal. Jumping between countries daily through a VPN looks like you're hiding your location.

What we do on every account:

• one account, one person, one email, one phone number;
• every field copied from the ID, with nothing abbreviated;
• the address matches the bank;
• no VPN unless there's a real reason;
• two-step verification through an authenticator app.

More on this in why KDP accounts get terminated.

How to pay for Amazon Ads

The account that receives royalties and the card that pays for ads are separate. Amazon Ads charges a card you add in the ads console.

What matters in practice is whether that card will let a large charge through. In our accounts, Amazon Ads charges add up into sizable amounts. Some European banks and Wise regularly asked us to confirm charges of $1,000–2,000, which is a normal month of spend on one working campaign. The problem isn't the confirmation. It's that you don't see it in time. In our experience, when a charge failed, the campaigns stopped. We woke up to ads that weren't running and a book that had slipped in search, and getting the rankings back cost new money.

So we pay for ads with a card that never asks us to confirm Amazon's charges (for us that's Payoneer). Whatever you use, set a high enough limit and turn on alerts. That matters more than fees or exchange rates.

Also plan ahead: the first royalties arrive well after the ads start charging you.

When the first money arrives

"Royalties are paid every month, approximately 60 days after the end of the month in which the sale was reported" (KDP Help: When will I get paid?, as of September 2026). Expanded Distribution takes 90 days. Direct deposit then takes 1–5 business days to reach you. Where to see what you've earned before it's paid: KDP sales dashboard.

The clock starts with the sale, not with publishing. Sell your first copy in September and the money arrives around the end of November. Until then your ads run on your own money. How much it costs to self-publish on KDP covers how much to set aside.

Your account is ready. Next steps

• How to publish a book on Amazon KDP, step by step.
• How to find a profitable KDP niche, if you don't have a topic yet.
• Check what a copy will earn before you pay for a cover: the KDP royalty calculator.