Automatic VAT Number Validation Webshop

You Recognize This

Monday morning, 9:15. You open your Shopify admin. 14 new orders since Friday. Nice.

You scroll through the orders. Order #2847: German company, €1,850. In the order notes it says: “VAT number: DE123456789. Please invoice without VAT.”

Sh*t.

You open a new tab. Type: “VIES Europa”. Click the link. Wait for the site to load (it’s always slow). Select “Germany” from the dropdown menu. Copy the VAT number. Paste it in the field. Click “Verify”. Wait. Wait. Green checkmark.

Okay, valid.

You take a screenshot. Save as “vies-check-de123456789-2025-10-31.png” in your “VAT validations 2025” folder.

You open Shopify. Create a credit note. Calculate the VAT back: €1,850 / 1.21 = €1,528.93. VAT = €321.07. Make credit note for €321.07.

You open your email. Write to the customer: “Dear, your VAT number has been validated. See attached credit note…”

You look at the clock. 9:28. 13 minutes for one order.

You have 6 other orders with VAT numbers this week.

There must be a better way.

What You’re Doing Now Costs Ridiculous Amounts of Time

Let’s calculate:

Per order with VAT number:

Open VIES website: 30 sec
Enter and check number: 60 sec
Take and save screenshot: 45 sec
Create credit note: 3 min
Email to customer: 2 min
Update order notes: 30 sec
Total: 7-8 minutes

Per week:

10 B2B orders with VAT numbers
10 × 8 min = 80 minutes
1 hour 20 minutes per week

Per month:

4 weeks × 80 min = 320 minutes
5 hours and 20 minutes per month

Per year:

5.3 hours × 12 = 64 hours
8 working days per year

You spend more than a work week per year manually checking VAT numbers.

The Things That Go Wrong

Screenshots Get Lost

Your computer has 847 screenshots in the Downloads folder. Which one was for order #2431 from March again? You don’t remember.

Tax authorities audit. They ask for proof. You search. You can’t find it. You’re screwed.

Typos

Customer writes: BE 0123 456 789 (with spaces) You copy: BE0123456789 (without spaces) VIES says: Invalid

But the number IS valid. You just don’t know that VIES doesn’t accept spaces. Now you’ve told the customer their number is invalid. They’re angry. They cancel the order.

VIES is Offline

It’s Friday afternoon 4:30 PM. You check a VAT number. VIES website doesn’t load. “Service temporarily unavailable.”

What now? The customer is waiting for confirmation. You need to ship this weekend. Check Monday morning? Give VAT exemption now? Take a guess?

Customer Already Paid

Customer orders. Pays €2,420 (incl. VAT). Order is in.

Then he emails: “I’m business, here’s my VAT number.”

You check. Valid. You now have to refund €420. Create credit note. Transfer money. Send email.

Customer asks: “When do I get my money back?”

This all feels unprofessional.

How Automatic Validation Works

At checkout your customer sees a field: “VAT number (optional for business customers)”

He enters: DE123456789

He clicks outside the field. Something happens:

Second 1: The number is sent to the EU Tax Exemption App Second 2: The app checks the number in the VIES database Second 3: The app gets response: Valid or Invalid

If Valid:

Green message: ✓ Valid VAT number
VAT disappears from total amount
€2,000 (was €2,420) ← customer sees this
Customer pays €2,000
Validation automatically logged with timestamp, order number, customer name

If Invalid:

Red message: ✗ VAT number not valid - check your input
VAT remains
€2,420 ← customer sees this
Customer can try again or pay with VAT

You do: Nothing. Order comes in. Correct amount. Validation documented. Done.

What Happens Behind the Scenes

For clarity - technical but simple:

Step 1: App receives number DE 123 456 789

Step 2: Cleanup

Removes spaces
Makes uppercase
Result: DE123456789

Step 3: Format check

Is this a German number?
Does it have 9 digits after DE?
Yes → continue

Step 4: VIES API call

App sends request to EU database
Asks: Is DE123456789 valid?

Step 5: VIES responds

Valid: true
Country: DE
Name: BEISPIEL GMBH

Step 6: App handles

Valid → VAT off in Shopify checkout
Invalid → VAT stays on

Step 7: Logging

Database record: order #, VAT number, timestamp, status, customer name, country
Saved 7+ years
Exportable to CSV

Time: 2 seconds. You do nothing.

Why This is Better Than Manual

You Save 5 Hours Per Month

At 10 validations per week:

Was: 80 min/week = 5.3 hours/month
Now: 0 min/week = 0 hours/month

Those 5 hours you can spend on:

Sourcing new products
Marketing
Helping customers
Stopping Friday afternoon earlier

Customers Pay Correct Price Directly

No more hassle with refunds. No credit notes. No “when do I get my money back?” emails.

Customer sees in checkout: €2,000. Customer pays: €2,000. Done.

Much more professional.

You Always Have Proof

Tax authorities call: “We want proof of VAT validations for 2024.”

You: “One moment.”

You open EU Tax Exemption App dashboard. Click “Export 2024”. Download CSV file. Send to inspector.

CSV contains:

Order number
VAT number
Validation date & time
Status (Valid/Invalid)
Customer name
Country

Inspector: “Thanks, this is fine.”

Conversation takes 5 minutes. You’re compliant. No stress.

What It Costs vs What You Save

Manual (your current situation)

Time:

5.3 hours per month
× €30/hour (your time)
= €159 per month

Missed conversions:

Customers who drop off at high price (VAT on)
Estimated: 2 orders/month × €100 margin
= €200 per month

Stress & compliance risk:

Lost screenshots
Typos
During audit: searching for proof
= Priceless

Total: €359+ per month loss

Automatic (EU Tax Exemption App)

Costs:

€9.99 per month
Setup: 0 hours
Maintenance: 0 hours

Savings:

Time: +5.3 hours
Money: +€159
Extra conversions: +€200
Stress: -100%

Total: €349 profit per month

Break-even: At 2 validations per month.

If you have more than 2 B2B orders per month with VAT numbers → automation pays off.

How to Start Today

Step 1: Install EU Tax Exemption App (2 minutes)

Go to Tax Exemption App. Click “Add app”. Log in with your Shopify account. Click “Install”.

Step 2: Configure widget (3 minutes)

In the dashboard:

Choose position (above/below cart items)
Adjust colors to your branding
Set texts
Done

Step 3: Test (2 minutes)

Open your webshop in incognito. Add product. Go to checkout. Test with a valid number (for example: NL806768289B01). Check if VAT disappears. Test with invalid number. Check if error message appears.

Step 4: Live

You’re done. From now on: automatic validations. No more manual work.

Total setup time: 7 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this work for all EU countries? Yes. EU Tax Exemption App recognizes all 27 EU VAT formats and validates via the official VIES database.

What if a customer enters a wrong number? The app shows a clear error message. The customer can enter the correct number or pay with VAT.

Do I have to validate each order again? No. Returning customers are automatically recognized. Their VAT number is remembered.

How long does a validation take? 1-2 seconds. The customer barely notices.

Can I view old validations? Yes. In the dashboard you see all validations with filter options. You can export everything to CSV.

Stop Manual Work

You have better things to do than manually checking VAT numbers on a slow website, taking screenshots and sending credit notes.

Automate it. Save 5 hours per month. Give customers a better experience. Stay compliant without stress.

For €9.99 per month.

Start today: Install EU Tax Exemption App →

More guides:

Last update: October 2025

Automatic VAT Number Validation in Shopify - Stop Manual Work