VAT Sense provides a REST API for validating VAT numbers and retrieving tax rates, currency conversions, country data, and VAT-compliant invoicing information. It checks live VAT records in the UK, EU, Australia, Norway, Switzerland, South Africa, and Brazil. The API provides EU VAT rates and VAT or GST rates from other countries; conversions to GBP and EUR use official HMRC and European Central Bank rates. When a requester supplies its own VAT number, a validation can return an official government consultation number. The API requires HTTPS and HTTP Basic Auth. VAT Sense says it does not support client-side CORS requests because account keys could be exposed, and it describes its transport as 256-bit SSL. Client libraries are available for Python, Node.js, PHP, Go, Ruby, C#/.NET, and Java, with Postman collections linked in the documentation. General rate limits are 300 requests per minute, and UK VAT validation is limited to 3 requests per second. The free plan includes 100 requests per month; plan details list limits up to 50,000 requests per month. Prices exclude VAT, and plans can be paid in GBP, USD, or EUR. The pricing note lists paid plans from $6.99/mo.
Who it is for
VAT Sense suits developers and businesses that need VAT checks or related tax data through an API. Its client libraries and Postman collections may help teams integrating the service into software.
What is good
- Validates VAT numbers in seven named regions.
- Returns VAT and GST rates and country data.
- Currency conversion uses HMRC and ECB rates.
- Client libraries cover seven programming languages.
- Every plan includes the full API.
What to know first
- Free plan is limited to 100 requests per month.
- UK VAT validation is limited to 3 requests per second.
- Client-side CORS requests are not supported.
- Prices are exclusive of VAT.
Verdict
VAT Sense combines VAT validation with rates, conversions, and invoicing data through a developer-focused API. Check the request limits and server-side authentication requirements when planning an integration.
VAT Sense plans and pricing
All plansCompared on VAT software
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- $6.99/mo
- VAT calculation
- Yes
- VAT jurisdictions
- 179 countries
- E-invoicing support
- basic
