Tax and register numbers · EU

VAT ID Field for Gravity Forms

VAT ID Field for Gravity Forms brings a field for the VAT identification number of the European Union into Gravity Forms, the form plugin for WordPress. In Germany this number is called USt-IdNr. for short. The field checks the number on your own server on submission and catches a wrong country code, a wrong length or invalid characters before the number ends up in your data.

If you want, the field then asks VIES whether the number is valid. VIES is the lookup system of the European Commission for VAT identification numbers.

How it works
View the manual

Who it is for

Who benefits.

The field is for forms in which business customers from the EU enter their details, for example for billing addresses, dealer accounts or tax-free deliveries within the EU. It is also for developers who need a validated VAT ID in the settings of their own plugin.

You gain two things. A wrong country code, a wrong length or invalid characters are caught as soon as the form is submitted, not later in your data. And your entries contain only numbers in the correct form. That is a reliable basis for your customer data, your invoices and your e-invoices, meaning invoices as structured files that software can read.

The check works in two stages. The first always runs, the second only if you switch it on.

On your server only Plus the lookup with VIES
Country code, allowed characters and length ✓ ✓
The number is valid – ✓
What the check on your server catches and what the lookup with VIES adds.

What the field does for you

  • You find the field VAT ID in the form editor in the field group e-Invoicing Fields and add it to your form like any other field.
  • It checks the number on your server: the country code, the allowed characters and the length. The plugin knows 28 country codes, namely the 27 EU countries and Northern Ireland.
  • If you want, it only accepts numbers from one particular country. That can be a fixed country or the country your customer entered in another field of the form. That way the number matches the country given.
  • If you want, it also confirms the number with VIES. You then know the number is really valid and does not just look right. The lookup runs directly with VIES or through your invoicePress account.
  • It stores the number consistently in capital letters and without spaces. That way every number appears in your data in the same notation.
  • Developers use the same check as a field type on the settings pages of their own plugins. It is available outside a form, too, and nobody has to rebuild the rules.

What it does not do

  • It does not check check digits. A number with the right country code and the right length therefore passes the check on your server, even if it was never issued. Only the VIES lookup tells you whether the number has been issued.
  • It does not know numbers from outside the EU, for example none from Switzerland and none from the United Kingdom without Northern Ireland.
  • It does not copy the name and address that VIES returns into the entry.
  • It does not make your form depend on VIES. If VIES is unreachable at the moment, your customer can still submit the form.

How it works

From entry to saved record

1 · Entry
your customer types the number
2 · Check on your server
country code, characters, length
3 · Optional: VIES
Is the number valid?
4 · Saved
with a checked number
How the field checks an entry on submission: first on your server, then, if you want, with VIES, and after that the entry is saved.

There is no demo to try on this page yet. The manual shows you step by step how to set up the field.


Requirements

What you need.

WordPress a running WordPress installation
PHP version 7.4 or newer
Gravity Forms version 2.5 or newer, installed and active
VIES check Your server needs an internet connection. You only need a key if the lookup is to run through your invoicePress account.

Manual

Everything explained step by step.

The manual walks you through the installation and the first steps. It explains every setting and also covers special cases. It applies to version 1.7.1 of the plugin.

View the manual
Manual as PDF

Deutsches Handbuch · PDF


Goes well with

Fields that go well with it

LEI · worldwide

LEI Field for Gravity Forms brings a field for the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI), a worldwide identifier for companies and other legal entities that is issued only once. If you want, it confirms the identifier in the GLEIF register.

Learn more

ISO 6523 (ICD) · worldwide

ISO6523 ICD Field for Gravity Forms brings a field for organization identifiers according to ISO 6523. An e-invoice uses this list of identifier types to identify the seller and the buyer.

Learn more

EN16931 fields

Gravity Forms EN16931 Fields brings the code lists of the e-invoice into Gravity Forms as ready-made choices. A code list is a defined list of allowed values, for example the currency codes.

Learn more

All identifier fields · All extensions


Request it now, coming soon to the shop.

This plugin will be available in the shop on invoicePress.de shortly. Until then, you can get it on request. Just tell us which identifier field you need.

Request the plugin