Are you looking to add the WooCommerce VAT number field to your checkout page?
If your online business caters to people within the European Union (EU), then you should validate VAT numbers.
Non-compliance with EU VAT rules can lead to severe consequences, including hefty fines and legal troubles.
However, you can stay clear of this issue by adding a VAT number field to WooCommerce checkout. This way, you can validate the VAT number and also calculate VAT correctly based on the latest rules set by the European Union.
The default WooCommerce plugin does a great job calculating sales tax for the United States and most other countries. But,it doesn't offer an option to add a VAT number field to your checkout page. With the addition of the right WooCommerce plugin, you can easily add a VAT Number Field to your checkout page form.
In this blog, we will share how you can add a VAT number field to WooCommerce checkout in a step-by-step guide.
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The EU VAT number, also known as the European Union Value Added Tax identification number or VAT ID, is a unique identifier assigned to businesses and individuals registered for Value Added Tax (VAT) purposes within the European Union (EU).
Each EU member state issues VAT numbers to businesses and traders within their jurisdiction.
The primary purpose of the EU VAT number is to facilitate the collection and tracking of VAT on goods and services within the EU.
It allows businesses to engage in cross-border trade with other EU member states while ensuring proper VAT compliance.
It's important to note that the format and specific requirements for EU VAT numbers may vary from one EU member to another.
Here, you can see the difference between the VAT Number format of two EU countries: Austria and Belgium.
Businesses operating within the EU must comply with the VAT regulations of the individual member states where they conduct business and may be required to register for VAT and obtain a VAT number if their sales exceed certain thresholds.
Proper management of VAT numbers is essential for businesses engaged in intra-EU trade to ensure compliance with EU tax laws.
Adding an EU VAT number field to the WooCommerce checkout can offer several benefits to your E-commerce business. Here are some of the reasons why you should add a WooCommerce VAT number field:
Now you know the perks of adding the VAT Number field to your checkout page. This is an efficient way of making sure your business complies with the EU VAT rules.
Anyone doing business with an EU company can verify the validity of their VAT number through various online tools and databases provided by the EU and individual member states. This verification helps prevent VAT fraud.
In this section, we will show a simple process of adding a WooCommerce VAT number field to your checkout and putting the validation and calculation of VAT on autopilot.
To follow along with the process, you will need to install these plugins:
WooCommerce EU VAT Assistant By Aelia is the most powerful plugin on the market that is designed to extend the standard WooCommerce sale process and calculate the VAT under the new regime. It also Integrates with PDF Invoice and Packing Slips plugin to automatically generate EU VAT-compliant invoices.
FunnelKit, on the other hand, is a sales funnel plugin that empowers you to create customized global checkout and add custom fields to your checkout form. With this plugin, you can easily add the VAT Number field to your WooCommerce checkout page.
Not just a custom field, this plugin ensures you provide your users with a frictionless checkout experience with express payment buttons, Google address autocomplete, auto-apply coupons, and more.
In addition, you can also add order bumps and one-click upsells, which helps you increase the order value in your business.
Before we start the main process, make sure to install and activate all the plugins. If you need help, you can check out the WooCommerce EU VAT Assistant and FunnelKit installation guides.
After activating the plugins, follow the following steps:
First, you need to make the field required for EU customers using WooCommerce EU VAT Assistant By Aelia. For that, navigate to WooCommerce ⇒ EU VAT Assistant ⇒ Checkout and choose the option “Required only for EU Address” for the field “The VAT number field will be” and click on Save Changes.
For other settings, you can check the EU VAT Assistant by Aelia website.
Now, we need to create a global checkout so that you’ll be able to add the VAT number field to the checkout. This global checkout will replace the default WooCommerce checkout page and add a custom page that looks attractive and has all the conversion-friendly elements.
To create a new store checkout, navigate to FunnelKit ⇒ Store Checkout and click on “Create Store Checkout.”
Now, you should see a new window with all the prebuilt templates by FunnelKit. Choose your favorite page builder and hover on the template you like.
Note: FunnelKit is compatible with most popular page builders such as Elementor, Divi, Gutenberg, Oxygen, etc.
To preview the template pages, hover and click on the “Preview” button. Here, we are going with the Elementor page builder and the template “Shoppe.” This template has two steps: checkout and thank you.
First, choose whether you want a single-page checkout or multi-page checkout. We are going with the simple single-page layout. After that, to import the template you choose, click on “Import this funnel,” then provide a name and click on Add.
Note: This will add and replace your default WooCommerce checkout with the newly created store checkout.
To edit the product, click on the ‘Edit’ option next to the checkout page.
On the Design tab, you can customize the design of the checkout page template. For more details, check our blog “How to Customize WooCommerce Checkout Page”.
Not to add the VAT number field, move to the “Fields” tab. On the right side under the Advanced Section, you will find a field “VAT Number”. Drag and drop the field to the form field sections. We are adding it after the phone field.
Note: If you want, you can change the order of the VAT field just by dragging and dropping the order where you want to place it.
Now, hover on the VAT field and click on the “Edit” icon to customize the options.
You can customize the following options:
Finally, click on Update to save the changes.
Click on the Save Changes option on the top to save all the changes you made to the form fields.
On the Optimization tab, you can optimize your checkout page with auto-apply coupons, like Google Pay and Apple Pay, google address auto-complete, enhanced phone field, etc.
Check out the checkout page optimization guide for more details on all the optimization options.
Like your checkout page, you can customize the thank you page the way you want. After that, you need to enable the store checkout so this new checkout with the WooCommerce VAT number field becomes the default checkout for your store.
For that, come back to the store checkout page and turn on the “Enable Store Checkout” button.
Now if you try to place an order, you should see the VAT field on the checkout page like this.
Only users with a valid VAT number can place an order.
That’s it. That is how easily you can add an EU VAT Number field to WooCommerce checkout.
You can also read our blog on How to Add a File Upload Field to the WooCommerce Checkout Page?
Adding an EU VAT number field to your checkout process is a proactive step toward ensuring compliance with European Union tax regulations.
By simplifying the process for customers to provide their VAT numbers, you enhance the user experience and ensure transparency and adherence to tax laws.
This helps build trust among EU customers and potentially opens up new business opportunities within the EU market.
And thanks to FunnelKit Funnel Builder, you can easily add a WooCommerce VAT number field. Moreover, you can also enhance the shopping experience with a customized checkout page optimized for ensuring a frictionless checkout.
So, get FunnelKit Funnel Builder today and start your journey to expanding and growing your business.
