Tax Registrations

Overview

External organizations can have their own tax registrations, just like your platform. These registrations are crucial for:

Determining B2B vs B2C tax treatment
Enabling reverse charge on cross-border transactions
Calculating input tax on purchases
Validating tax compliance

When to add tax registrations

For CUSTOMER organizations

Add tax registrations when customers are businesses with VAT/tax numbers:

curl https://api.nocotax.app/organizations/org_customer_123/tax_registrations \
  -u ${ACCOUNT_ID}:${YOUR_API_KEY} \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "country": "DE",
    "number": "DE123456789",
    "type": "standard"
  }'

Why this matters:

Without tax registration → Treated as B2C, charged VAT
With valid tax registration → B2B treatment, often reverse charge (0% VAT)

For MERCHANT organizations

Add tax registrations for suppliers based on your platform model: Undisclosed agents (buy/resell): Most transactions are B2B with reverse charge on cross-border purchases, and charge local tax on domestic transactions. Use registration_type: standard:

curl https://api.nocotax.app/organizations/org_supplier_456/tax_registrations \
  -u ${ACCOUNT_ID}:${YOUR_API_KEY} \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "country": "FR",
    "number": "FR98765432109",
    "type": "standard"
  }'

Traditional marketplaces (commission agent): Depends on whether merchants sell B2C through your platform. They may need multiple registration types if selling across borders. See Tax Registrations Configuration for details on OSS and other schemes.

Registration types for external organizations

CUSTOMER role: Input tax only

Customers don’t bill through your platform - they only receive invoices from you. Use standard registration type:

# B2B customer
curl https://api.nocotax.app/organizations/org_customer_123/tax_registrations \
  -u ${ACCOUNT_ID}:${YOUR_API_KEY} \
  -d '{
    "country": "IT",
    "number": "IT12345678901",
    "type": "standard"
  }'

This enables:

Reverse charge on eligible transactions
Input tax calculation (though not directly relevant for customers)
B2B invoice treatment

MERCHANT role: Depends on business model

Merchants may need different registration types based on how they operate: Standard registration (most common):

curl https://api.nocotax.app/organizations/org_supplier_456/tax_registrations \
  -u ${ACCOUNT_ID}:${YOUR_API_KEY} \
  -d '{
    "country": "ES",
    "number": "ES12345678Z",
    "type": "standard"
  }'

OSS or other schemes: If merchants on a traditional marketplace sell B2C across borders, they may have OSS registrations. See Tax Registrations Configuration for registration type details.

For undisclosed agents, merchants typically only need standard registrations since transactions are B2B between your platform and the supplier.

Listing organization tax registrations

# Get all registrations for an organization
curl https://api.nocotax.app/organizations/org_supplier_456/tax_registrations \
  -u ${ACCOUNT_ID}:${YOUR_API_KEY}

# Get specific registration
curl https://api.nocotax.app/organizations/org_supplier_456/tax_registrations/taxreg_abc123 \
  -u ${ACCOUNT_ID}:${YOUR_API_KEY}

Updating tax registrations

curl https://api.nocotax.app/organizations/org_supplier_456/tax_registrations/taxreg_abc123 \
  -X PATCH \
  -u ${ACCOUNT_ID}:${YOUR_API_KEY} \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "number": "DE987654321"
  }'

Deleting tax registrations

curl https://api.nocotax.app/organizations/org_supplier_456/tax_registrations/taxreg_abc123 \
  -X DELETE \
  -u ${ACCOUNT_ID}:${YOUR_API_KEY} \

Common scenarios

Scenario 1: B2B customer in EU

# Create organization
curl https://api.nocotax.app/organizations \
  -u ${ACCOUNT_ID}:${YOUR_API_KEY} \
  -d '{
    "roles": ["BUYER"],
    "name": "German Business GmbH",
    "billing_address": {"country": "DE"}
  }'

# Add tax registration
curl https://api.nocotax.app/organizations/org_created_above/tax_registrations \
  -u ${ACCOUNT_ID}:${YOUR_API_KEY} \
  -d '{
    "country": "DE",
    "number": "DE123456789",
    "type": "standard"
  }'

Result: Cross-border sales to this customer will use reverse charge (0% VAT).

Scenario 2: Marketplace seller (merchant)

# Create seller organization
curl https://api.nocotax.app/organizations \
  -u ${ACCOUNT_ID}:${YOUR_API_KEY} \
  -d '{
    "roles": ["MERCHANT"],
    "name": "Seller Shop Ltd",
    "billing_address": {"country": "FR"}
  }'

# Add standard VAT registration
curl https://api.nocotax.app/organization/org_created_above/tax_registrations \
  -u ${ACCOUNT_ID}:${YOUR_API_KEY} \
  -d '{
    "country": "FR",
    "number": "FR98765432109",
    "type": "standard"
  }'

# Add OSS VAT registration for cross-border EU B2C sales
curl https://api.nocotax.app/organization/org_created_above/tax_registrations \
  -u ${ACCOUNT_ID}:${YOUR_API_KEY} \
  -d '{
    "country": "FR",
    "number": "FR98765432109",
    "type": "oss_eu"
  }'

Scenario 3: Buy/resell supplier

# Supplier organization
curl https://api.nocotax.app/organizations \
  -u ${ACCOUNT_ID}:${YOUR_API_KEY} \
  -d '{
    "roles": ["MERCHANT"],
    "name": "Wholesale Supplier Inc",
    "billing_address": {"country": "NL"}
  }'

# Add registration (B2B with your platform)
curl https://api.nocotax.app/organization/org_supplier_created/tax_registrations \
  -u ${ACCOUNT_ID}:${YOUR_API_KEY} \
  -d '{
    "country": "NL",
    "number": "NL123456789B01",
    "standard": "standard"
  }'

Impact on invoicing

Tax registrations directly affect invoice tax calculations:

With tax registration (B2B)

Your Platform (FR) → Invoice → Customer (DE, has VAT number)
Result: Reverse charge, 0% VAT

Without tax registration (B2C)

Your Platform (FR) → Invoice → Customer (DE, no VAT number)
Result: VAT charged at appropriate rate

See Managing Taxes on Invoices for detailed tax calculation rules.

Best practices

Always add tax registrations for B2B customers to enable reverse charge
Use standard registration type for CUSTOMER organizations
For MERCHANT organizations, registration type depends on your business model
Keep registrations up to date - invalid numbers affect tax treatment
Don’t add registrations for B2C customers (individuals without tax numbers)

Next steps