diff --git a/app/Models/Customer.php b/app/Models/Customer.php
index dd5232c..6016084 100644
--- a/app/Models/Customer.php
+++ b/app/Models/Customer.php
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class Customer extends Model
     use HasFactory, HasUuid;
 
     protected $fillable = [
-        'user_id', 'name', 'contact_name', 'email', 'phone', 'vat_id', 'billing_address',
+        'user_id', 'name', 'contact_name', 'email', 'phone', 'vat_id', 'vat_id_verified_at', 'billing_address',
         'locale', 'stripe_customer_id', 'status', 'closed_at',
         'brand_display_name', 'brand_logo_path', 'brand_primary_color', 'brand_accent_color',
     ];
diff --git a/app/Services/Billing/TaxTreatment.php b/app/Services/Billing/TaxTreatment.php
index 8a81ece..aa52e3f 100644
--- a/app/Services/Billing/TaxTreatment.php
+++ b/app/Services/Billing/TaxTreatment.php
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@ use App\Models\Customer;
  *
  * Only the two clear-cut cases are decided here:
  *
- *  - a customer with a VAT ID registered in another EU country pays no VAT to
- *    us; the liability shifts to them (reverse charge), and the invoice has to
- *    say so;
+ *  - a customer whose VERIFIED VAT ID belongs to another EU member state pays
+ *    no VAT to us; the liability shifts to them (reverse charge), and the
+ *    invoice has to say so. Unverified means domestic rate: a self-declared
+ *    string must never be able to zero the tax;
  *  - everyone else is charged the seller's domestic rate.
  *
  * Deliberately NOT handled: cross-border sales to private individuals, which
@@ -22,6 +23,13 @@ use App\Models\Customer;
  */
 final readonly class TaxTreatment
 {
+    /** Reverse charge applies inside the EU only. */
+    private const EU_MEMBER_STATES = [
+        'AT', 'BE', 'BG', 'CY', 'CZ', 'DE', 'DK', 'EE', 'EL', 'ES', 'FI', 'FR',
+        'HR', 'HU', 'IE', 'IT', 'LT', 'LU', 'LV', 'MT', 'NL', 'PL', 'PT', 'RO',
+        'SE', 'SI', 'SK',
+    ];
+
     private function __construct(
         public float $rate,
         public bool $reverseCharge,
@@ -31,19 +39,24 @@ final readonly class TaxTreatment
     {
         $domestic = (float) config('provisioning.tax.rate_percent', 0) / 100;
 
-        $vatId = strtoupper(preg_replace('/\s+/', '', (string) $customer?->vat_id) ?? '');
-        if ($vatId === '') {
+        // Unverified is the normal state, and it must cost the customer nothing
+        // more than the domestic rate they would pay anyway — but it must not
+        // zero the VAT either. Otherwise typing "XX123" is a discount.
+        if ($customer?->vat_id_verified_at === null) {
             return new self($domestic, false);
         }
 
-        // A VAT ID starts with its country's code. Same country as ours means a
-        // domestic business sale, which is taxed normally.
-        $sellerCountry = strtoupper((string) config('provisioning.tax.seller_country', 'AT'));
-        $customerCountry = substr($vatId, 0, 2);
+        $vatId = strtoupper(preg_replace('/[\s.-]+/', '', (string) $customer->vat_id) ?? '');
+        $country = substr($vatId, 0, 2);
+        $seller = strtoupper((string) config('provisioning.tax.seller_country', 'AT'));
 
-        return $customerCountry !== '' && $customerCountry !== $sellerCountry
-            ? new self(0.0, true)
-            : new self($domestic, false);
+        // Reverse charge is an intra-EU business rule: it needs a member state
+        // that is not ours, and a number that at least looks like one.
+        $eligible = in_array($country, self::EU_MEMBER_STATES, true)
+            && $country !== $seller
+            && preg_match('/^[A-Z]{2}[0-9A-Z]{8,12}$/', $vatId) === 1;
+
+        return $eligible ? new self(0.0, true) : new self($domestic, false);
     }
 
     public function grossCents(int $netCents): int
diff --git a/database/migrations/2026_07_26_010000_add_vat_verification_to_customers.php b/database/migrations/2026_07_26_010000_add_vat_verification_to_customers.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c21a164
--- /dev/null
+++ b/database/migrations/2026_07_26_010000_add_vat_verification_to_customers.php
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+<?php
+
+use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
+use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
+
+/**
+ * When a customer's VAT ID was confirmed as valid.
+ *
+ * Reverse charge zeroes the VAT we collect, so it may not hinge on a string the
+ * customer typed. Until a VAT ID is verified this stays null and the domestic
+ * rate applies — over-collecting, which is correctable, rather than
+ * under-collecting, which is a tax liability.
+ */
+return new class extends Migration
+{
+    public function up(): void
+    {
+        Schema::table('customers', function (Blueprint $table) {
+            $table->timestamp('vat_id_verified_at')->nullable()->after('vat_id');
+        });
+    }
+
+    public function down(): void
+    {
+        Schema::table('customers', function (Blueprint $table) {
+            $table->dropColumn('vat_id_verified_at');
+        });
+    }
+};
diff --git a/tests/Feature/CartTest.php b/tests/Feature/CartTest.php
index c5da010..b7c686c 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/CartTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/CartTest.php
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ it('does not charge Austrian VAT to an EU business with a VAT ID', function () {
     config()->set('provisioning.tax.seller_country', 'AT');
 
     [$customer, $user] = cartCustomer();
-    $customer->update(['vat_id' => 'DE 811 907 980']);
+    $customer->update(['vat_id' => 'DE 811 907 980', 'vat_id_verified_at' => now()]);
     Order::factory()->for($customer)->create(['type' => 'storage', 'amount_cents' => 1000, 'status' => 'pending']);
 
     // Reverse charge: we invoice net, the customer accounts for the VAT.
@@ -177,9 +177,29 @@ it('charges domestic VAT to a domestic business and to private customers', funct
     expect(Order::query()->first()->grossCents())->toBe(1200);
 
     // An Austrian VAT ID is a domestic business sale, taxed normally.
-    $customer->update(['vat_id' => 'ATU12345678']);
+    $customer->update(['vat_id' => 'ATU12345678', 'vat_id_verified_at' => now()]);
     expect(Order::query()->first()->fresh()->grossCents())->toBe(1200);
 
     Livewire\Livewire::actingAs($user)->test(Billing::class)
         ->assertSee(__('billing.cart.vat', ['percent' => '20']));
 });
+
+it('will not let a typed-in VAT ID zero the tax', function () {
+    config()->set('provisioning.tax.rate_percent', 20);
+    config()->set('provisioning.tax.seller_country', 'AT');
+
+    [$customer, ] = cartCustomer();
+    Order::factory()->for($customer)->create(['type' => 'storage', 'amount_cents' => 1000, 'status' => 'pending']);
+
+    // Plausible-looking but unverified: still domestic VAT.
+    $customer->update(['vat_id' => 'DE811907980']);
+    expect(Order::query()->first()->fresh()->grossCents())->toBe(1200);
+
+    // Nonsense, even if someone marked it verified: not an EU member state.
+    $customer->update(['vat_id' => 'XX123', 'vat_id_verified_at' => now()]);
+    expect(Order::query()->first()->fresh()->grossCents())->toBe(1200);
+
+    // Verified and from a member state that is not ours: reverse charge.
+    $customer->update(['vat_id' => 'DE811907980', 'vat_id_verified_at' => now()]);
+    expect(Order::query()->first()->fresh()->grossCents())->toBe(1000);
+});