TomatoCart

Hello,

I simply love this cart and strongly beleive in a bright future for TC,
Residing in Belgium there's one big shortcoming that i think many (European) TC users are waiting for...

Here in Europe we have a thing called VAT (Value Added Tax).

Simply put:
Customer buy a product (including VAT) on the webshop and pay the for this product including VAT.
BUT
When a customer has a business outside the sellers country, within the Europen Union, (and has a legal VAT number) this customer can purchase WITHOUT paying this VAT.

Problem--> before finilazing checkout the customers VAT number needs to be checked --> if valid --> customer should be billed excluding this VAT.

I lack the programming skills to code this very interesting feature, but I'm sure most of european TC users are waiting for this to be implemented in TC.
Some information on how to implement this.

European VAT Number Validation API:
http://isvat.appspot.com/

Sample script for oscommerce (unfortunatly install.txt is in french)
http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions,1590

Sample using SOAP
http://blog.riff.org/2007_04_08_soap_box_accessing_vies_from_phpgtk

Hope someone will pick this up, this would TC stand out from other carts in the EU !
If any questions, please ask!

well it possible to add this to TC,

from the OSC module, the VAT number is added as customers data (which is most correct way i think)
and can also be done in TC with same method, just need few adaptation to the code

currently i'm try to add this as order total module, but seems not possible without modify the core code
except if i hook on the coupon/gift certifiicate function

Thank you for your reply.

Any input on this is welcome.
As said, my skills don't allow the development of this valuable addon.

Would be very gratefull if someone could assist development of this code.
This VAT feature would be an asset for the TC community.

There are scripts that can be integrated in TC on 2 levels. On 1st level the script is checking if the VAT number is in the correct format, and this can be integrated on VAT number entering form. However, in standard TC you can not enter VAT number so this script has no place to be applied.

On 2nd level the script can verify if the VAT number entered really exist and is joined with company specified.

This all can be integrated in some extra module, but the question is what to do if the VAT number is incorrect or belongs to another company, or if at the moment you can not establish the connection to the VIES databases? To disable account creation and checkout process, or what ?

Thank you for your reply Antun,
Appreciate this!


1).For both cases:
If there is no connection to the VIES database:
If the VAT number is not correct:
Normal checkout can proceed (order=with VAT),
maybe with a message explaining: (VAT number not recognised / database not available, try again later)


2).If the customer chooses a VAT number of another company things get a bit more complicated.
I will reply on this case later.


3).Another challenge is the intra-Community supply:
From 'EU Taxation and customs unit' FAQ: EU Taxation and customs unit[/url]To make an intra-Community supply without charging VAT, you should ensure that the person to whom you are supplying the goods is a taxable person in another Member State, and that the goods in question have left, or will leave your Member State to another MS. VAT-number should also be in the invoice.

So there should be a check against the country/state of the seller and the country/state of the buyer.
If they are the same --> order should be with VAT
If they are different AND both are inside the european union --> no VAT should be charged.


I know this is a challenge, and a bit complicated, but that's the way it goes in Europe.
The intra-community supply is a huge selling argument!
in lay man terms:
If I am in another EU country than the seller and have a valid VAT number/company I don't have to pay VAT.
Simply put: if something costs 100$ and I can purchase it with a valid VAT, I only have to pay 79$ !

This function would make Tomatocart the top shopping cart in the EU !

For case 2 where a customer gives a VAT number from a different company.
This is impossible to check by the cart software and alll VAT numbers need to be checked by the sales department anyway (manually).

Customer point of view:
The great advantage of having a module like this is that a customer which has a VAT number can order straightaway without having the hassle to email (and wait for the reply of) the shop owner to make an invoice without VAT.
I'm convinced there are a lot of customers with a valid VAT looking for the same product in a different shop which has the auto VAT function. This way avoiding the waiting time of having an invoice without VAT sent to them.
(Magento has this functionality)

If someone could develop this for the 1.x versions of tomatocart I would really apreciate this and I'm willing to pay for this (and sure many other european TC shops would too).

Thanks in advance,