Quietbill / How to add a VAT number to a Stripe invoice
How to add a VAT number to a Stripe invoice
How you add a VAT number to a Stripe invoice depends on when you do it: before the customer pays, while an invoice is still a draft, or after it’s paid. The last case is the one that fills your inbox.
Before payment: collect the tax ID at checkout
Stripe Checkout and Payment Links can ask the buyer for a tax ID (tax_id_collection in the API). The buyer enters their VAT number before paying, and it is stored with the customer. It is the cleanest route when you know in advance that business customers will buy.
On a draft invoice: add it to the customer
If you create invoices yourself in Stripe Invoicing, add the tax ID to the customer record before you finalize the invoice. Check the invoice preview first. Finalizing an invoice copies the customer’s details onto it, including the tax ID, and Stripe doesn’t let you change them afterward, so fix them before you finalize.
After payment: the customer emails you
This is the common case. A customer pays, forwards the receipt to their accountant, and hears back that it needs the company’s VAT number. They email you. Stripe doesn’t let you edit an invoice once it is paid. Its documented way to correct a paid invoice is a credit note, which refunds or credits the amount, followed by a new invoice. That works, but it means refunding and re-charging a sale just to fix a VAT number, so most sellers write a separate document by hand. The other option is to give the customer a way to produce it themselves.
Let customers add the VAT number themselves
- You share one Quietbill link, for example in your receipt email or site footer.
- The customer enters their email and gets a magic link, so they only see payments made with that address.
- They pick a payment and add their company name, address and VAT ID.
- They download a numbered PDF. Amounts, dates, line items and tax stay as Stripe recorded them.
It works for payments made before you signed up too. You can walk through it in the demo. If you’re weighing it against Stripe’s own invoicing fee, the fee calculator shows what Stripe charges at your volume.
What a VAT number on an invoice does and doesn’t do
It records the buyer’s tax ID on the document. It doesn’t decide whether VAT applies to the sale. That depends on where you’re registered and where the buyer is. For Payment Link sellers, start here and confirm the tax treatment with your accountant.
Questions
Can I add a VAT number to a Stripe invoice after it is paid?
Stripe doesn’t let you edit a paid invoice. Its documented correction route is a credit note followed by a new invoice. Alternatively, write a separate document yourself, or let the customer generate an invoice with their VAT number from a separate page, which is what Quietbill does.
Where do customers enter a VAT number on a Payment Link?
At checkout, if you turn on tax ID collection for the link. The buyer ticks that they’re purchasing as a business and types the tax ID before paying.
Does adding a VAT number change how much tax is charged?
On a Quietbill invoice, no. The VAT number is recorded on the document. Amounts, dates, line items and tax come from Stripe and are locked. How VAT applies to a sale, such as reverse charge, depends on your registration and the buyer’s country, so ask an accountant.
Can customers change the amount on a Quietbill invoice?
No. Customers can edit their name, company, address and tax ID. Everything else is read from Stripe.
Stop writing invoices by hand
Quietbill gives your Stripe customers one link to find their payment, add their company and VAT number, and download a numbered PDF invoice. $49 once, no subscription, no per-invoice fees.
Set up and preview for free. Not quieter within 30 days? Email us for a full refund.