A business customer's EU VAT number checked before you sell without VAT
Check a business customer's EU VAT number with VIES before an intra-EU sale without VAT, and keep the result as a private note on the order.
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Time
- about 10 min
A business customer in [Cyprus], order [order number], asks to be invoiced without VAT. Their VAT number is [VAT number with its country prefix, e.g. CY…]. Check it with VIES and tell me whether it is valid, with the name and address VIES holds for it if it shares them, so I can compare them with the order. If VIES or that country's register is unavailable, say so and don't call the number invalid. Add a private note to the order with the result and the date. Don't change the order and don't email the customer.
Already connected?
If SAR is already in your AI app, this is enough:
Check the VAT number [number] with VIES and add the result as a private note to order [number].
What happens
- The AI app reads the order: items, totals, payment method and country, without the customer's personal data.
- The site asks VIES itself and gets back valid, with the name and address VIES holds where that country shares them, invalid, or unavailable when VIES or the country's register is down. Greek numbers are checked by their check digit first.
- The check stores nothing, and it runs at most 60 times an hour.
- It adds the result to the order as a private note, which only the shop sees and which is added at once; it can be undone.
Approvals involved
Worked out from the tools this recipe uses.
wordpress_woo_get_orderGet an orderNonewordpress_check_vat_numberCheck an EU VAT numberNonewordpress_woo_add_order_noteAdd an order noteDepends on the change
What you get
A dated record on the order of what VIES said about the number. The check helps you decide; whether the sale can go without VAT is for your accountant to confirm. An 'unavailable' answer says nothing about the number, so try again later.
Related recipes
- Greek market · about 15 minInvoice requests whose ΑΦΜ fails the check digitSpot orders where the customer asked for an invoice but typed a ΑΦΜ (Greek tax number) that fails AADE's check digit, before the invoice goes out.
- Greek market · about 10 minA business customer's ΑΦΜ checked with VIES and AADE before you invoice (beta)Before invoicing a business, check its ΑΦΜ: the check digit, VIES and, with your shop's own AADE codes, its name, ΔΟΥ and whether it is active.
- Greek market · about 15 minThe week's invoice orders checked before they go to your accountant (beta)Each week, find the orders that asked for an invoice but lack a valid ΑΦΜ, ΔΟΥ or company name, checked with VIES and AADE, before your accountant sees them.
Try it on your own site
Install the plugin, add SAR to your AI app and paste the prompt. Free to start.