VIES answers HTTP 200 even when it couldn't actually perform the check
(actionSucceed: false, e.g. MS_UNAVAILABLE — Germany's own national
gateway does this fairly regularly). checkVatIdViaVies() only ever read
data.valid, which is absent on that response shape, so it silently
read as valid: false — a real, currently-registered German VAT ID
(reported: DE351362947) looked rejected. Worse, /api/checkout/validate-
vat then wrapped even a correctly-returned ok:false as { ok: true,
valid: false }, which the client reads as "invalid" rather than
"unavailable" — the actual bug the user hit, compounding the vies.ts
gap. Both are fixed now: an unconfirmable check surfaces to the client
as ok:false, which CheckoutContent.tsx's handleVatIdBlur already
correctly renders as "USt-IdNr.-Prüfung derzeit nicht möglich"
instead of a rejection. Same fix applied to the payload backend's own
copy of vies.ts (company-settings' VAT check).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
A validated EU business buyer (Österreich, the one cross-border option
this checkout offers) gets the sale zero-rated per §4 Nr. 1b UStG —
but only after a live VIES lookup confirms the VAT ID is actually
registered right now, never from format-validity alone (real
compliance risk otherwise). VIES unreachable fails closed: normal VAT
applies, no guessed exemption.
- lib/vies.ts: calls the EU's public VIES REST API.
- lib/vatExemption.ts: de-grosses item/shipping prices and computes
the exempt totals; also picks the actual destination country
(shipping override when set, billing otherwise).
- api/checkout/validate-vat: on-blur live check for instant feedback;
api/checkout/route.ts re-runs the same check server-side at submit
as the actual source of truth, and re-prices every line net-of-VAT
when exempt.
- CheckoutContent.tsx: VIES status + a live exempt-totals preview;
BestellbestaetigungContent.tsx mirrors it from the persisted
snapshot. Both blur-validate every other checkout field now too
(immediate inline errors, not just on submit).
- vatExempt/vatIdValidatedAt threaded through orderServer.ts,
customerAuth.ts, orderEmail.ts, and both invoice-download routes so
the invoice PDF and its e-invoice XML (companion payload-repo
commit) reflect the exemption correctly wherever it's rendered.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Marco