pyvat -- VAT validation and calculation for Python

With EU VAT handling rules becoming ever more ridiculous and complicated, businesses within the EU are faced with the complexity of having to validate VAT numbers. pyvat was built for Iconfinder's marketplace to handle just this problem.

Validation of VAT numbers is performed in two steps: firstly, the VAT number is checked against an expression for the given country if one such is available, after which it is checked against a registry if one such is available.

Calculation of VAT rates for sales is supported within the EU for items covered by the new EU directive for VAT on telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services.

Installation

To install requests, do yourself a favor and don't use anything other than pip:

$ pip install pyvat

Usage

pyvat exposes its functionality through three simple methods:

pyvat.check_vat_number(vat_number, country_code=None)

Test if a VAT number is valid.

If possible, the VAT number will be checked against available registries.

Parameters:	vat_number -- VAT number to validate. country_code -- Optional country code. Should be supplied if known, as there is no guarantee that naively entered VAT numbers contain the correct alpha-2 country code prefix for EU countries just as not all non-EU countries have a reliable country code prefix. Default None prompting detection.
Returns:	True if the VAT number can be fully asserted as valid or False if not, otherwise None indicating that the VAT number may or may not be valid.

pyvat.is_vat_number_format_valid(vat_number, country_code=None)

Test if the format of a VAT number is valid.

Parameters:	vat_number -- VAT number to validate. country_code -- Optional country code. Should be supplied if known, as there is no guarantee that naively entered VAT numbers contain the correct alpha-2 country code prefix for EU countries just as not all non-EU countries have a reliable country code prefix. Default None prompting detection.
Returns:	True if the VAT number can be fully asserted as valid or False if not, otherwise None indicating that the VAT number may or may not be valid.

pyvat.get_sale_vat_charge(date, item_type, buyer, seller)

Get the VAT charge for performing the sale of an item.

Currently only supports determination of the VAT charge for telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services in the EU.

Parameters:	date (datetime.date) -- Sale date. item_type (pyvat.ItemType) -- Type of the item being sold. buyer (pyvat.Party) -- Buyer. seller (pyvat.Party) -- Seller.
Returns:	The VAT charge to be applied to the sale of an item.

For more detailed documentation, see the full pyvat documentation.

Running Tests

pyvat uses pytest for testing. To run the test suite:

Install test dependencies:

$ pip install pytest

Run all tests:

$ python -m pytest tests/ -v

Run specific test files:

# Test new countries implementation
$ python -m pytest tests/test_new_countries.py -v

# Test VAT charge calculations
$ python -m pytest tests/test_sale_vat_charge.py -v

# Test VAT number validators
$ python -m pytest tests/test_validators.py -v

Run with coverage:

$ pip install pytest-cov
$ python -m pytest tests/ --cov=pyvat --cov-report=html

Test Results:

The test suite includes:

• VAT Rules Tests: Verify correct VAT rates for all supported countries
• Registry Tests: Test B2B exemption logic for different countries
• VAT Charge Tests: Ensure proper VAT calculation for cross-border sales
• Validator Tests: Check VAT number format validation

Note: Some validator tests that call external VIES API are currently skipped and will be refactored with mocks.

Supported Countries

EU Countries: All EU member states with full VIES integration

Special VAT Territories:

• French DOM Territories (RE, GP, MQ) - 8.5% VAT, outside EU VAT territory
• France & Monaco (FR, MC) - Same VAT territory, 20% standard rate
• Non-EU Countries (EG, CH, CA, NO) - Special VAT arrangements

For detailed VAT rates, calculations, and examples for digital goods sold from France, see FRANCE_VAT_RATES_DIGITAL_GOODS.md.