As of January 1, 2021, the United Kingdom no longer falls under the European Union. As a result, UK VAT numbers return an invalid result when passed through the European Commission’s validation service. This article explains a workaround needed for membership sites to collect UK VAT numbers.
VAT Add On v0.7 Release Notes
At this time, the HMRC provides no way for businesses to validate a UK VAT number. This means that version 0.7 of the VAT (Value-Added Tax) Add On cannot verify UK VAT numbers against any validation service. As a temporary measure of validation, UK VAT numbers will instead be checked for proper formatting. These changes allow you to continue accepting a VAT number for UK residents through the Add On.
How to Remove UK from VAT Country List and Tax Charge
Since UK VAT numbers are not validating, you may instead decide to stop collecting tax for these unvalidated customers. Use the recipe below to remove the GB country code from the “County of Residence” dropdown shown on your membership checkout page.
/** * This recipe will remove the UK from the list of EU countries to validate VAT numbers. * * title: Remove UK from list of EU countries. * layout: snippet * collection: add-ons, pmpro-vat-tax * category: UK, EU * * You can add this recipe to your site by creating a custom plugin * or using the Code Snippets plugin available for free in the WordPress repository. * Read this companion article for step-by-step directions on either method. * https://www.paidmembershipspro.com/create-a-plugin-for-pmpro-customizations/ */ function mypmpro_remove_uk_from_eu( $countries ){ unset( $countries['GB'] ); return $countries; } add_filter( 'pmpro_vat_by_country', 'mypmpro_remove_uk_from_eu', 10, 1 ); add_filter( 'pmpro_european_union', 'mypmpro_remove_uk_from_eu', 10, 1 );
As a side note, we recommend consulting with a local accountant who specializes in taxes to see if there is anything else you need to consider. We are not tax professionals and cannot advise you on tax requirements for your business.
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