VAT number check
Sliptree checks every EU VAT number in VIES, the EU's VAT number database, and shows the answer next to the number. The answer is a warning, not a block: a number VIES rejects can still be saved, but an e-invoice that carries it is refused.
Where the result shows
The check runs on a VAT number field while the number is typed, about half a second after typing stops, and a spinner shows while it runs. It covers the customer form (when adding a customer, and in the dialog that the pencil on Legal and bank opens on the customer page), VAT & Registration in the company profile, and the customer and company panels of the invoice and estimate editor. The form that creates a new business has no check.
The result also shows where the number is not being edited:
- The customer page. A mark follows the VAT number in the Legal and bank section, with the result in its tooltip. See The customer page.
- The document editor. When the customer's or the business's own VAT number is invalid or cannot be checked, the customer or company section of the document shows a mark. Its tooltip reads, for example, The customer's VAT number is invalid. Click for details., and a click opens the panel with the field.
The results
| Result | In the field | Under the field | Saving | Sending an e-invoice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valid | A mark with the tooltip Valid | – | Allowed | Allowed |
| Invalid | A mark with the tooltip Invalid | This VAT number is invalid | Allowed | Refused |
| Can't check | A mark with the tooltip Unknown | We can't check this VAT number right now | Allowed | Allowed |
A number with the wrong format gets a format error instead of a result, and it cannot be saved until it is corrected. Numbers that VIES does not cover, such as Norwegian, Swiss or UK numbers, get the format check only and show no result.
For Latvian, Lithuanian and Finnish numbers, Sliptree first looks in the business registry data it imports every day. A number found there counts as valid without asking VIES, and a number not found there is still checked in VIES.
Saving a number VIES rejects
A number VIES reports as invalid can be saved on a customer, on a document and in the company profile. The help icon next to This VAT number is invalid says what that means: you can still save it, but you take the risk that it is wrong.
The risk is mostly about tax. Without a valid VAT number, an invoice to a business in another EU country cannot use reverse charge, so a 0% reverse charge rate on that invoice rests on a number VIES reports as invalid. See How do I make sure tax-exempt customers see no tax on their invoices?.
VIES can reject a number that was registered only a few hours earlier. Sliptree keeps an invalid answer for a day and asks VIES again on the first check after that, so a number that VIES has caught up with then shows as valid.
E-invoices with an invalid number
An e-invoice is not sent while VIES reports the customer's VAT number, or the business's own, as invalid. The send panel then shows Customer VAT number is invalid or Company VAT number is invalid. The e-invoice goes out once the number is corrected, or removed from a customer that is not VAT-registered. See Sending e-invoices to customers.
A number that VIES cannot check at the moment does not stop an e-invoice.
When VIES does not answer
VIES passes each question on to the tax authority of the number's country, and one country's service is sometimes slow or down. The field then shows We can't check this VAT number right now, and the number can still be saved. Sliptree keeps this answer for an hour, so a check within that hour shows the same result and the first check after it asks VIES again.
A valid answer is kept for a month before VIES is asked about the number again.
The monthly re-check
On the 1st of every month, Sliptree checks again the business's own VAT number and the VAT numbers of the customers it invoiced in the last 12 months. A number counts as no longer valid only after two "invalid" answers at least 3 days apart, and a "can't check" answer never counts.
On the 8th, the business gets an email about the numbers that are no longer valid, sent to the email address in its company profile. There are two separate emails:
- Some customer VAT numbers are no longer valid lists each customer with their number and a link to the customer's page.
- Your VAT number is no longer valid is about the business's own number and links to the company profile.
For example, when VIES rejects a customer's number on 1 March and again on 4 March, the email of 8 March lists that customer. The email comes again every month until the number is changed or removed. See Notifications you receive from Sliptree.
The customer page and the editor do not wait for the second answer. They show the number as invalid from the first rejection.