Zapier Integration for EU VAT Validation
A business customer types a VAT number into a form, and everything downstream — the invoice, the reverse charge, the quarterly return — treats it as a fact. The vatnode integration checks it against the official EU VIES register inside the Zap, and keeps checking it after the deal closes.
Validation Is Not a One-Time Event
Most automations check a VAT number once, at signup, and never again. Registrations get cancelled, companies get struck off, and the number that was valid in March is not the number you invoice against in September. If you zero-rate an intra-EU sale against a lapsed registration, the VAT you did not charge is still owed — by you, with interest.
That is why the integration has both halves: a step that validates now, and a trigger that tells you when the answer changes later.
Triggers and Actions
| Type | Name | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | VAT Number Changed | Fires the moment a monitored VAT number stops being valid, becomes valid again, or the trader name or address changes in VIES. Real-time — it registers a webhook rather than polling. |
| Action | Validate VAT Number | Checks a number against the live VIES register. Returns validity, registered trader name and address, the country VAT rates, and the VIES consultation number when your account has a requester VAT set. |
| Action | Monitor VAT Number | Adds a VAT number to daily monitoring. Re-running the same Zap for an existing customer returns the existing subscription instead of failing the step. |
| Search | Find VAT Rates | Standard, reduced, super-reduced and parking rates for a European country, plus the country VAT number format. |
Setup
- Create a key in your dashboard and paste it into the vatnode connection in Zapier. Nothing else to configure.
- Add Validate VAT Number to the Zap that creates customers or invoices, and branch on the
validfield. - Add Monitor VAT Number to the same Zap, then build a second Zap on the VAT Number Changed trigger for everything that happens afterwards.
Zaps Worth Copying
New customer in the CRM → Validate VAT Number → update the record
Store validity, trader name and the consultation number on the account, so the reverse-charge decision has evidence behind it months later.
New paid invoice → Validate VAT Number → Slack alert when invalid
Catches the customer whose VAT registration lapsed quietly, before the accountant finds it in the quarterly return.
New customer → Monitor VAT Number
Every counterparty gets watched from the day it signs up. No list to maintain.
VAT Number Changed → create a task, email the account owner
The invoice stops being reverse-charge-eligible the moment this fires. Nobody has to remember to re-check.
New spreadsheet row → Validate VAT Number → write the result back
Bulk cleanup of an inherited customer list without writing any code.
Questions
What do I need to connect it?
One vatnode API key, pasted into the Zapier connection screen. Live keys work everywhere. A test key validates the XX fixture numbers only, so the trigger and the monitoring action need a live key.
Does the trigger poll?
No. Connecting the trigger registers a vatnode webhook pointing at your Zap, and vatnode pushes the event when the daily re-check finds a change. Turning the Zap off deletes the webhook.
How much quota does a Zap use?
One request per Validate VAT Number step, per item. The trigger and rate lookups cost nothing against your quota.
Why not call VIES with a Webhooks by Zapier step?
You can, until you meet the reality of it: VIES is a SOAP service returning XML, individual member states go down without warning, it rate-limits by IP, and the audit consultation number is only issued when the request is shaped correctly. The integration hides that behind one step and a flat JSON result.
Which countries are covered?
Validation covers the 27 EU member states plus XI for Northern Ireland. Rate and format data covers those plus around 17 other European jurisdictions, lookup only.
The integration is free and open source. The validation step needs a key, and the free plan comes with a monthly quota and no card.
Get a free API key