VAT Numbers at Checkout
Selling B2B in the EU or UK? Your business customers' invoices need their VAT identification number on them. Trade Account Checkout adds a format-validated VAT number field to your Shopify Plus checkout and pins it to the order — where your invoicing can actually find it.
Install on ShopifyRequires Shopify Plus · Free plan available
Quick answer
To collect VAT numbers at Shopify checkout: install Trade Account Checkout on your Shopify Plus store, add a "VAT number" field with a placeholder showing your expected format (e.g. DE123456789), and set a regex pattern so malformed VAT IDs are rejected before the order is placed. The number is saved as a pinned order metafield, readable via the Shopify API, so your invoicing app or ERP puts it on the B2B invoice automatically. Optional on mixed B2C/B2B stores, required on pure B2B stores.
The Problem
Every EU and UK B2B seller knows this email. It arrives after the order, blocks the invoice, and turns a routine sale into a support ticket.
In European B2B, the buyer's VAT identification number isn't a nice-to-have — a compliant B2B invoice generally needs to show it, and for certain cross-border B2B supplies it's part of applying the correct VAT treatment. Business buyers know this, which is why they email you their USt-IdNr., BTW-nummer, or numéro de TVA after every order placed on a checkout that had nowhere to put it.
The cost isn't just the email. It's the invoice that can't be finalized until the reply arrives, the credit note when an invoice went out without the number, the VAT ID typed by hand into your accounting system — sometimes wrong — and the buyer who quietly prefers the supplier whose checkout asks for it upfront, because their accounts payable process depends on it.
The structural fix: ask at checkout, validate the format at the source, and store the number where invoicing systems can read it. That's the entire job of this field.
At Checkout
Call it "VAT number", "USt-IdNr.", or "BTW-nummer" — and validate the country formats you actually serve.
Order information
Ordering for a business? Add your details for the invoice.
VAT number
PO number (optional)
Example configuration: a German-format VAT pattern plus an optional PO field. Each field has its own label, validation, and required/optional setting.
Setup
Four steps, no developer, no theme code.
One-click install from the Shopify App Store on your Plus store. The free plan covers your first business orders.
Your label and language, a placeholder showing the expected format, and a regex pattern for the countries you serve.
Optional on a mixed B2C/B2B store so consumers aren't blocked; required if you sell to businesses only.
The VAT ID arrives pinned as an order metafield, readable via the API — your invoicing app or ERP picks it up automatically.
Being precise about what validation means here: the field validates the format of the entry — country prefix, digit count, structure — so typos and nonsense are rejected before the order exists. It is not a live VIES registry lookup; merchants who verify numbers against VIES do that in their invoicing or customer-onboarding process, now with a well-formed number already on the order. And to be equally clear: the app doesn't calculate or remove VAT — tax treatment stays with your Shopify tax settings and your accountant, where it belongs.
In Shopify Admin
Pinned metafield, auto-tagged order, one-click filtering and export — and a clean handoff to whatever generates your invoices.
Tags — auto-applied at checkout
trade-accountMetafields — pinned, visible to your team
FAQ
What EU & UK B2B sellers ask before adding the field.
Install Trade Account Checkout on your Shopify Plus store, add a "VAT number" field with a placeholder showing your expected format, and set a regex pattern so malformed IDs are rejected before the order is placed. The number is saved as a pinned order metafield, readable via the API.
A compliant B2B invoice in the EU and UK generally needs to show the business customer's VAT ID, and for certain cross-border B2B supplies the number is part of applying the correct VAT treatment. Captured at checkout, it's on the order before the invoice is generated — instead of requested by email afterwards.
The field validates the format — country prefix, digit count, structure — with your own error message, so typos never reach your invoicing. It's not a live VIES registry lookup; merchants who verify against VIES do so in their invoicing or onboarding process, now starting from a well-formed number.
As a pinned order metafield in Shopify admin, readable via the Shopify API — so invoicing apps and ERPs pull it automatically. Orders are auto-tagged for one-click filtering and export.
Yes — multiple fields, each with its own label, validation, and required/optional setting. A required VAT ID plus an optional PO number is a common EU B2B configuration.
No. It's a field-capture extension: it collects and validates the number and attaches it to the order. Tax calculation and VAT treatment stay with your Shopify tax settings and your invoicing process.
Yes. Checkout UI extensions that add fields inside the checkout are a Plus capability, so the app requires a Plus plan.
Install Trade Account Checkout, set your VAT field and format validation, and put the number on the order from the very next sale.
Install on Shopify