VAT calculation method

I'd like clarification that I have understood correctly in setting up the shop for VAT calculations, depending on the type of user and Eurozone country.

The shop is based in Italy, therefore I have to add VAT (Iva) to all sales within Italy and also to individuals and companies that do NOT have VAT numbers in other European countries.

I have set up two Tax Rules (config/system/taxes), as can be seen by the attachment, but do I need a third one for Company with VAT number?

When a user goes to the checkout and registers his/her address, they have the option to fill in the company field and VAT number field.
- If these two fields are NOT filled in by the user then they will have VAT added in the cart, in any Eurozone country including Italy.
- If they fill in the company field but NOT the VAT number field they too will have the VAT added to the total.
- If however they fill in both the company field and VAT number field then the VAT will NOT be added to the order.

Am I correct so far?

The reason I ask is that the following quote is taken from another thread which seems to be saying the opposite about companies with or without VAT.

"The individual will be considered as a company with VAT if he fills the company field. If he fills the VAT number field, he will be considered as a company without VAT."

Additionally I have activated the VAT number check in Config/Main set to check format.

If the address of the user is Germany (for example) and the number they enter is NOT valid does it give an error message to the user or merely ignore it and treat the order as an individual and add the VAT to the order?

And what happens when someone fills in the VAT number bit NOT the Company number? Does it take their name as the compny name? I have these two form fields set to NOT regquired as not all customers will be companies.

OK, I've added that.

However, with my test guest account (German individual), the cart is showing the price without tax of 20.00 when it should be 24.00.

I left the Company field and VAT number field empty.


Screenshot in next post..

shopping cart (dummy guest)

That's it! I had it set to All Customer Types.
I though perhaps I needed a fourth rule for comapnies with Vat number (set to 0%)

Thanks again for clearing that up.

Yes, I get that now, thanks for clarifying!

Now I need to go shopping on your site

I realize that this software is built in the UK but I am having difficulties setting up Taxes for the website. See in the US, no one buying outside of my state has to pay a sales tax. My state is MO, but I can only choose a Zone based on Country and not state. Is there any way to only charge sales tax to those who buy from me within my own state?

In user registration, I am not asked for user type (individual vs. business) or VAT number.
How can I enable that?
"Default address type" is set to "All customer types", "VAT number check" is set to "Online check".