How to enable VAT number check

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3 years 7 months ago #331683

-- url of the page with the problem -- : hika.dextrauk.com/checkout/product/listing
-- HikaShop version -- : 4.4.1
-- Joomla version -- : 3.9.25
-- PHP version -- : 7.4.15
-- Browser(s) name and version -- : Firefox

Hello, I am trying to (from New Zealand) understand how to set-up a field for online VAT check. I have created a Custom Field which is a Text type. I have also enabled the Main > Taxes > VAT Number Check to Online Check but it seems to do nothing. I have checked in Docs and Forum posts but I don't have a clear answer on set-up an what the Online Check function does and when.

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3 years 7 months ago #331707

Hi,

Here is the documentation for that setting:

You can select here if you want to check the VAT number.
This option should be used if your shop is located in Europe where taxes might be different if the buyer is a company with a VAT number or not.
You can set it to check that it conforms to the format specifications defined by each European country or, on top of that, validate the VAT number against the European VAT checking web service (Only available if you have the PHP SOAP extension installed on your PHP. If not, an error message will be displayed to the user).

www.hikashop.com/support/documentation/5...nfig.html#main_taxes
As you are located in New Zealand, I suppose that the addresses you're using for your tests are not in the EU and thus are not subject to EU laws and thus the online check is skipped.

I suppose that what you want is to use this service provided by the Nez Zealand administration for New Zealand companies tax number verification :
www.ird.govt.nz/digital-service-provider...rd-number-validation
There is no such option in HikaShop. It would require the development of a custom plugin to integrate with that API. So it's possible, but you'll have to hire a developer to work on that.

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3 years 7 months ago #331724

Thanks Nicolas, I think I have it working in that once a successful VAT number is applied, then I can use a Tax rule to not apply VAT to the transaction. Can you recommend best practice for charging VAT when and when not to? I am in NZ but am migrating a UK site from Mijoshop to Hikashop and this is a last snag. I really don't know the UK VAT rules for charging which are different to NZ's GST rules.

Also, if I put in a custom field for the VAT number, I am only showing it if the customer says that they are a UK based business. Is it possible to make it compulsary but only if the field is visible?

Finally, when I enter a correct VAT number into the field, when is the check done, is this only on Next or on off-focus?

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3 years 7 months ago #331730

Hi,

In the "address_vat" custom field, you can use the "display limited to" setting to restrict it to the "address_country" field with the value "United Kingdom" and it should appear only in that case. And if you set the "address_vat" field as required, it will only be required when displayed by the "display limited to" setting.

Regarding the check, it's done after you click on next.

Note however that since brexit, UK VAT numbers check has been removed, so it won't do the check.
So if you want to do a check, the only thing left is to use the "regular expression check" setting to enter a regex for the format of UK VAT numbers:

(GB)?([0-9]{9}([0-9]{3})?|[A-Z]{2}[0-9]{3})
as per www.oreilly.com/library/view/regular-exp...9327453/ch04s21.html

Finally, I'm not familiar with the rules for VAT charges in the UK since brexit so I wouldn't be able to recommend what to do. I would recommend you check first with your UK accountant, or your UK local tax office what they recommend. Then, based on that I can tell you how to setup the tax rules in HikaShop based on what you should and what you should not charge.

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3 years 7 months ago #331733

thanks for this. For the VAT check, why remove it, why not just leave it there for now?

good to know about the 'required' function, I assumed that it would be hidden and then trip up non-vat users.

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3 years 7 months ago #331734

Hi,

That's because the vies online checking service removed the checking of UK VAT numbers:
ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/

As of 01/01/2021, the VoW service to validate UK (GB) VAT numbers ceased to exist

So because of that, if HikaShop enforces it, it would generate an error since the checking service would not validate the number :
www.hikashop.com/forum/taxes/902229-can-...sinesess.html#331048

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