How to set up the reverse charge mechanism in WooCommerce for iDoklad and Fakturoid plugins

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What is the reverse charge?

Reverse charge is a mechanism where the obligation to declare and pay VAT is transferred from the supplier to the customer. When goods or services are purchased under this regime, the customer does not pay VAT to the supplier, but declares and pays it directly to the tax authority. The supplier does not state the VAT amount on the tax document and instead includes the note: “VAT to be paid by the customer. Invoice issued under the reverse charge mechanism.”

The reverse charge mechanism applies only between two VAT-registered entities (companies, entrepreneurs). It does not apply to end consumers (private individuals).

How does it work in practice?

If you run an e-shop that sells within the EU and allows purchases by companies and entrepreneurs, you must be prepared for the reverse charge mechanism. For example, if your e-shop is based in the Czech Republic and a VAT-registered company from Slovakia purchases from you, the invoice will show only the net price without VAT, and the order must also be charged without VAT. You can see an example of such an invoice in the image below.

Reverse charge and WooCommerce

WooCommerce does not support the reverse charge mechanism by default, but we have prepared a plugin that adds this functionality.

Toret EU VAT plugin

Toret EU VAT is a WordPress + WooCommerce plugin that enables selling under the reverse charge regime. It adds Company ID / VAT ID fields to the checkout, verifies their validity (via ARES, RÚZ, and VIES), and automatically charges prices with or without VAT accordingly. It is compatible with the Toret iDoklad and Toret Fakturoid plugins and offers simple reverse charge setup.

Setting up reverse charge in WooCommerce

After installing the plugin, go to its settings, which you can find under Toret plugins > Toret EU VAT.

First, enter the license key. The configuration options will then become available.

The plugin settings are divided into 3 sections:

• Company fields in checkout
• Verification
• Reverse charge

Company fields in checkout

This section allows you to manage company fields in the WooCommerce checkout. You can enable fields for Company ID, VAT ID, and EU VAT ID and define whether they are required. For the VAT ID (EU VAT) field, you can choose whether it is optional or mandatory and set its visibility based on the customer’s country (e.g. hide VAT ID for customers from the shop’s country or show it outside the EU). You can also add a checkbox to display company details or hide the Company Name field.

Verification

In this section, you configure the verification of customer company details directly in the checkout. You can enable Company ID validation via ARES/RÚZ and optionally make it mandatory. The plugin can also automatically load the billing address from the registry and optionally require VAT ID verification in the VIES system for foreign companies.

Reverse charge

This section defines the rules for applying the reverse charge mechanism. You can enable automatic reverse charge for customers with a valid VAT ID, display a reverse charge notice in the checkout, and select a zero-rate tax class that the plugin will apply when reverse charge is used.

Display in WooCommerce checkout

Once the plugin is configured (you can see an example setup in the attached screenshots), we recommend checking the checkout to see how everything is displayed.

If you have configured the plugin according to the example, you will see automatic validation after entering the details and confirmation of whether the order is or is not under the reverse charge regime.

Order information

In the order detail, you can easily see via a custom widget whether the order is under the reverse charge regime and whether the company details have been verified.

You can also trigger verification manually, as well as switch the order status between standard mode and reverse charge.

Issuing invoices under the reverse charge regime

Subsequent invoice issuance under the reverse charge regime is straightforward if you use Toret plugins for iDoklad or Fakturoid. All Toret plugins are fully compatible and automatically pass the required information. No additional configuration is required.

If the order is under the reverse charge regime, the VAT will be zero and the invoice will include information about the reverse charge.

You now have reverse charge set up, including correct invoicing. As you can see, with Toret plugins it’s easy.