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Shopify EU VAT Validation API

Add EU VAT number validation to your Shopify B2B storefront. Automatically verify EU business customers against VIES before applying tax exemptions on cross-border orders, so you never wrongly zero-rate an unregistered buyer.

Quick start

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  http://localhost:3000/api/v1/validate/DE/DE123456789

Code example

Full integration example including error handling for service_unavailable responses from VIES.

// Shopify app (Remix) — validate EU VAT in an API route
// app/routes/api.validate-vat.jsx

import { json } from "@remix-run/node";
import { authenticate } from "../shopify.server";

export const action = async ({ request }) => {
  await authenticate.admin(request);
  const { country, vatNumber, customerId } = await request.json();

  const res = await fetch(
    `http://localhost:3000/api/v1/validate/${country}/${vatNumber}`,
    { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.TAXID_API_KEY}` } }
  );
  const data = await res.json();

  if (data.valid) {
    // Apply tax exemption via Shopify Admin API
    await shopify.rest.Customer.update({
      id: customerId,
      tax_exempt: true,
      note: `EU VAT: ${vatNumber} | ${data.company_name}`,
    });
  }
  return json({ valid: data.valid, company: data.company_name });
};

curl "http://localhost:3000/api/v1/validate/DE/DE123456789" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TAXID_API_KEY"

# {
#   "valid": true,
#   "status": "active",
#   "company_name": "Example GmbH",
#   "company_address": "Musterstraße 1, 10115 Berlin",
#   "country_code": "DE",
#   "cached": false
# }

API response

The TaxID API returns a consistent JSON response for every validation:

{
  "valid": true,
  "status": "active",
  "country_code": "DE",
  "vat_number": "DE123456789",
  "company_name": "Example GmbH",
  "company_address": "Musterstraße 1, 10115 Berlin",
  "request_date": "2026-05-10T00:00:00.000Z",
  "cached": false,
  "request_id": "req_01j..."
}

Implementation steps

1. 1

   Get a free TaxID API key

   Sign up at taxid.dev/signup. No credit card required. The free plan includes 100 validations per month, which is enough for early-stage B2B storefronts.

2. 2

   Build a Shopify app or custom storefront field for VAT input

   Create a Shopify app (using Remix or the Shopify CLI) with a custom checkout UI extension that adds a VAT number field to the billing form. Alternatively, use a headless storefront with a server action that calls the TaxID API before the order is confirmed.

3. 3

   Validate via a server-side app route

   In your Shopify Remix app route, call GET /api/v1/validate/:country/:vat from the server using the TAXID_API_KEY environment variable. Check that status === 'active' before applying any tax exemption. Never expose the API key in client-side JavaScript.

4. 4

   Apply Shopify tax exemption for verified businesses

   When the TaxID API returns valid: true, update the Shopify customer object to set tax_exempt: true via the Shopify Admin API or GraphQL Storefront API. This prevents Shopify from calculating tax on future orders for that customer.

5. 5

   Store validation result in Shopify customer metafields

   Persist the validated VAT number, company_name, and company_address from the TaxID response in Shopify customer metafields. This gives you an auditable record showing the VAT was valid at the time of the transaction, which is required under EU record-keeping obligations.

Frequently asked questions

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