diff --git a/app/api/checkout/route.ts b/app/api/checkout/route.ts
index 7d752e0..ee61c02 100644
--- a/app/api/checkout/route.ts
+++ b/app/api/checkout/route.ts
@@ -209,22 +209,31 @@ export async function POST(request: Request) {
     );
   }
 
-  // Innergemeinschaftliche Lieferung (§4 Nr. 1b UStG) — only for the goods'
-  // actual destination (the shipping override's country when set, the
-  // billing country otherwise) being Österreich, the one EU-cross-border
-  // option this checkout offers, AND a VAT ID that VIES itself confirms is
-  // currently registered right now, at the moment of purchase — a merely
-  // format-valid id is never enough (see lib/vatExemption.ts's own
-  // comment). VIES being unreachable fails closed: normal VAT applies,
-  // never a guessed exemption.
+  // VAT-ID validity and the exemption decision are two separate questions.
+  // Validity (is this actually a currently-registered VAT ID at all) is
+  // checked via VIES for ANY country whenever one is given — worth
+  // recording regardless of destination, same "data quality" reasoning as
+  // company-settings.vatId's own VIES check on the backend; a merely
+  // format-valid id (e.g. "ED123456789" — "ED" isn't even a real country
+  // code) is never enough on its own. The exemption itself
+  // (innergemeinschaftliche Lieferung, §4 Nr. 1b UStG) additionally
+  // requires the goods' actual destination (the shipping override's
+  // country when set, the billing country otherwise) to be Österreich,
+  // the one EU-cross-border option this checkout offers — a validated
+  // *German* VAT ID never zero-rates a domestic sale, no matter how real
+  // it is. VIES being unreachable fails closed on the exemption: normal
+  // VAT applies, never a guessed exemption (vatIdValidatedAt just stays
+  // unset in that case too).
   let vatExempt = false;
   let vatIdValidatedAt: string | null = null;
   const buyerDestinationCountry = destinationCountry(body.country, Boolean(body.hasDifferentShippingAddress), body.shippingCountry);
-  if (normalizedVatId && isExemptionEligibleCountry(buyerDestinationCountry)) {
+  if (normalizedVatId) {
     const viesResult = await checkVatIdViaVies(normalizedVatId);
     if (viesResult.ok && viesResult.valid) {
-      vatExempt = true;
       vatIdValidatedAt = new Date().toISOString();
+      if (isExemptionEligibleCountry(buyerDestinationCountry)) {
+        vatExempt = true;
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/app/checkout/components/CheckoutContent.tsx b/app/checkout/components/CheckoutContent.tsx
index bdaac0c..4121cbf 100644
--- a/app/checkout/components/CheckoutContent.tsx
+++ b/app/checkout/components/CheckoutContent.tsx
@@ -345,14 +345,19 @@ export function CheckoutContent({
   const displayTotal = exemptTotalsPreview?.total ?? total;
 
   // USt-IdNr. blur — format-checks first (always), then a live VIES lookup
-  // only once the destination actually qualifies (Österreich) — no point
-  // hitting the EU's API for a Deutschland/Schweiz order, where this
-  // exemption never applies regardless of what VIES says.
+  // for ANY country, not just Österreich. Two genuinely separate concerns:
+  // whether this is a real, currently-registered VAT ID at all (data
+  // quality — worth knowing regardless of destination, same reasoning as
+  // company-settings.vatId's own VIES check on the backend) vs. whether
+  // *this transaction* qualifies for the cross-border exemption (a
+  // narrower legal question, still gated on isExemptionEligibleCountry()
+  // wherever vatExemptPreview/exemptTotalsPreview are computed below — a
+  // validated German VAT ID never zero-rates a domestic sale).
   async function handleVatIdBlur(e: React.FocusEvent<HTMLInputElement>) {
     const value = e.target.value;
     const formatError = validateVatIdFormat(value);
     setFieldError("vatId", formatError);
-    if (!value.trim() || formatError || !isExemptionEligibleCountry(destinationCountry(country, hasDifferentShippingAddress, shippingCountry))) {
+    if (!value.trim() || formatError) {
       setVatIdViesStatus("idle");
       return;
     }
@@ -708,23 +713,28 @@ export function CheckoutContent({
                   placeholder="DE123456789"
                   autoComplete="off"
                   pattern="[A-Za-z]{2}[A-Za-z0-9]{2,12}"
+                  maxLength={14}
                   title="EU-Format: 2 Buchstaben Länderpräfix + bis zu 12 alphanumerische Zeichen, z. B. DE123456789."
                   wrapperClassName="w-full"
                 />
-                {/* Only shown once the destination actually qualifies
-                    (Österreich) — a "checking..."/status message for a
-                    Deutschland/Schweiz order would be meaningless noise,
-                    the exemption never applies there regardless. */}
-                {isExemptionEligibleCountry(buyerDestinationCountry) && (
-                  <p className="text-label text-text-muted">
-                    {vatIdViesStatus === "checking" && "USt-IdNr. wird geprüft…"}
-                    {vatIdViesStatus === "valid" && (
-                      <span className="text-success">✓ Bestätigt — Lieferung wird steuerfrei berechnet.</span>
-                    )}
-                    {vatIdViesStatus === "invalid" && "USt-IdNr. konnte nicht bestätigt werden — reguläre MwSt. wird berechnet."}
-                    {vatIdViesStatus === "unavailable" && "Prüfung derzeit nicht möglich — reguläre MwSt. wird berechnet."}
-                  </p>
-                )}
+                {/* Shown for any country — validity is worth confirming
+                    regardless of destination (data quality: is this VAT ID
+                    even real). Only the "valid" message's wording differs
+                    by destination: Österreich additionally gets the
+                    exemption note, Deutschland/Schweiz just get a plain
+                    confirmation, since the exemption never applies there
+                    even for a genuinely valid VAT ID. */}
+                <p className="text-label text-text-muted min-h-[1.05rem]">
+                  {vatIdViesStatus === "checking" && "USt-IdNr. wird geprüft…"}
+                  {vatIdViesStatus === "valid" && (
+                    <span className="text-success">
+                      ✓ USt-IdNr. bestätigt
+                      {isExemptionEligibleCountry(buyerDestinationCountry) ? " — Lieferung wird steuerfrei berechnet." : "."}
+                    </span>
+                  )}
+                  {vatIdViesStatus === "invalid" && "USt-IdNr. konnte nicht bestätigt werden."}
+                  {vatIdViesStatus === "unavailable" && "USt-IdNr.-Prüfung derzeit nicht möglich."}
+                </p>
               </div>
             </div>
             {/* w-[calc(50%-0.5rem)] at sm: — exactly matches Vorname's
@@ -804,6 +814,7 @@ export function CheckoutContent({
                 autoComplete="postal-code"
                 inputMode="numeric"
                 pattern={plzPattern(country)}
+                maxLength={PLZ_DIGITS[country] ?? 4}
                 title={`PLZ muss aus ${PLZ_DIGITS[country] ?? 4} Ziffern bestehen.`}
                 required
               />
@@ -962,6 +973,7 @@ export function CheckoutContent({
                     autoComplete="off"
                     inputMode="numeric"
                     pattern={plzPattern(shippingCountry)}
+                    maxLength={PLZ_DIGITS[shippingCountry] ?? 4}
                     title={`PLZ muss aus ${PLZ_DIGITS[shippingCountry] ?? 4} Ziffern bestehen.`}
                     required
                   />