Selling across the EU means zero-rating VAT for businesses that give you a valid VAT number — and being able to prove, years later, that you checked. The free plugin lets you flag a customer as exempt by hand. That works until you have more than a handful of them.
VAT & Tax Exemption Pro does the checking. It asks the EU’s VIES service in real time, removes the tax when the number is genuine, refuses when it is not, and stores the consultation number against the order as the evidence an auditor will ask for.
What Pro adds
- Checked against VIESEvery number is verified with the European Commission’s own service, not a regex. A number that is not registered does not get zero-rated.
- Evidence kept on the orderThe trader name, address and the VIES consultation number are stored against the order, so the proof is attached to the sale rather than living in someone’s inbox.
- Your call when Brussels is downVIES goes offline more often than anyone would like. Choose what happens: take the order and charge the tax with a flag for review, accept it on trust, or ask the customer to try again. The default takes the order and charges the tax, because losing the sale is bad and owing the VAT is worse.
- The details that catch people outGreek numbers are prefixed EL rather than GR, Northern Irish numbers begin XI and sit on GB addresses, and a number whose country disagrees with the billing address is not evidence of anything. All handled.
- Rules about who qualifiesLimit exemption to particular roles or member states, and decide whether businesses in your own country can be zero-rated too.
- Reverse charge on the paperworkThe Article 196 wording goes on the order, the invoice and the customer’s email automatically — in your words if you prefer your own.
- Both checkoutsClassic and block checkout, with the field validated in the browser and again on the server.
Free vs Pro
| Free | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| VAT number field at checkout | Included | Included |
| Format validation | Included | Included |
| Mark a customer exempt by hand | Included | Included |
| Live VIES verification | Not included | Included |
| Consultation number stored as evidence | Not included | Included |
| Automatic zero-rating on a valid number | Not included | Included |
| Choose what happens when VIES is unavailable | Not included | Included |
| Restrict exemption by role or member state | Not included | Included |
| Reverse-charge wording on orders and invoices | Not included | Included |
Upgrading from free
Install and activate Pro and the free plugin is deactivated automatically. Both versions read the same data, so every setting and everything you have already created carries over untouched. There is no import step and nothing to reconfigure.
What happens without a license
Pro degrades to the free feature set rather than switching off. Your store keeps working, your Pro configuration is kept safe rather than deleted, and everything starts applying again the moment a key is activated. Losing a license should never cost you a sale.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens when the VIES service is down?
You decide, and the setting matters more than it sounds. The default takes the order, charges the tax and flags it for review, so the sale is never lost and you are never left owing VAT you did not collect. You can also accept on trust, or ask the customer to try again in a few minutes.
Is a VIES check enough evidence for an audit?
The consultation number VIES returns is the reference tax authorities ask for, and it is stored on the order along with the trader name and address and the time of the check. Your accountant is the right person to confirm what your jurisdiction expects, but the evidence is there and attached to the sale.
What happens if my license lapses?
Automatic zero-rating stops and the plugin behaves like the free version — the field is still there, still validated, and any customer you flagged by hand stays exempt. It will never start refusing orders because a license expired.
What you get
- One year of updates, delivered inside your WordPress dashboard like any other plugin.
- Use on up to 2 sites — your live store and your staging copy.
- Priority support by email.
- A 7-day trial on any site: install it, run it properly, then enter a key.
Requirements
- WordPress 6.2 or newer
- WooCommerce 7.0 or newer — HPOS (High-Performance Order Storage) compatible
- PHP 7.4 or newer
- Works with classic themes and block themes, classic and block checkout
Part of B2B Managers Suite
One of 13 lightweight B2B extensions that work alone or together: role based pricing, tiered pricing, quotes, B2B registration, order rules, catalogue visibility, checkout control, quick ordering, VAT handling, purchase orders, company accounts, price lists and hidden prices. Install only what you need — each plugin is small and focused, with no extra database tables and no front-end frameworks.