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EU VAT number / Different names on card and account (17)

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I will keep this short. Two questions for FB advertisers.

1. Is it safe to use different name on the account than on the CC? I think about completely different name like using Adam Smith on the account and Ben Green on the card?

2. Question to EU based advertisers. Is it possible to use same EU VAT number on different accounts, even after some of them were banned with the same EU VAT number before? Can I stay under radar using same EU VAT number for new accounts after losing old ones or is it a strong fingerprint for FB?

The thing is I can get multiple and fresh credit cards but we need to use SAME EU VAT number for all accounts because it must be included on the invoices from FB.

Here is the place on FB where you can insert your EU VAT number:


Any answers will be much appreciated!

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I don't even bother inputting my VAT number, the only time you have VAT added to your invoice is if your buying adverts for personal reasons OR your located in Northern Ireland. If you read Facebook Ad's VAT FAQ it says that affiliates are classed as business use. I've tried adding my VAT number to an account & it doesn't actually effect your account other than placing your VAT number on the printable invoices. And since your not paying any VAT on the invoices you won't need your VAT number on the invoices as you won't be claiming anything back at the end of the quarter. - I believe this info is correct but I'll see what other guys say, if not I'm fucked lol.

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Thanks for the answer.

As far as I know every invoice that's printed for a deal between two businesses from countries inside EU needs EU VAT numbers. If it's not your fault, that's fine, because company that sells you something can forget to add it on the invoice. But in this case it's not FB's fault, because you didn't provided them your number so they wasn't able to add the number to the invoice.

Ask you accounting and you should be fine

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According to my accountant the e-mail receipt is acceptable & I don't need every single 1, I can just show HRMC a couple & they should cover it.

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Sounds good. You are located in UK, right? In some countries you need to have every single invoice printed and archived for 5 years so, good for you if you don't have to!

I'm reading other sources at this moment and some of them says (same as you) that you as a buyer don't need to have EU VAT placed on the invoice.

If you have any fresh info on this, please let me know.

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Yeah I'm located in the UK - When you pay it doesn't go to Facebook Ireland, it actually goes to their US account in Palo Alto so technically were dealing with a US account, I believe they need the VAT number for their own accounting.

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What about different name on account and credit card? Any idea?

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Different name is fine - I do it all the time

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@cygnusx thanks for bringing this up man, not much talk about dealing with all this in the UK. I've been using a different name on my main account / card for a good few months, no problems so far. You could always just say it's an employee/business partner's card if they ask you about it.

@river
I'm in Northern Ireland and we deal with HMRC the same way as you guys in Great Britain as far as I'm aware, let me know if I've missed something.

If you have proof it's going directly to the Palo Alto account are you treating Facebook as a US business?
In the FAQ they say all the ad purchases go through HQ in Dublin, they seem pretty clear about treating it as a business based in Ireland.

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@feelfreeapps , @snipe

Thanks for the info. What about using same name for the account if the last one was banned? I need to use same name for all accounts, because I need to have my real name on the invoice. Is it ok (after ban) to use same name as before for new accounts? Or maybe they will ban me easily after using same name?

AFAIK you need to treat FB as a IE based business because they are selling services as a IE office. The most important thing is always official info on the invoice, because it clearly says who is the seller/buyer.

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The name that shows on the invoice is the name you set in your ad account settings.
I doubt they'd use this to link accounts unless they were really looking into you!

I've been treating them as an IE business, either way we don't have to pay VAT just a little easier to manage if it was outside the EU. What accounting software are you using to manage everything?

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You can use the same name as banned accounts - I've done that too. But obviously make sure the card number and billing address are different to the banned account. You can call CC company and change the billing address over the phone, it will update instantly.

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What happens when the billing address is same as on banned account? Will this account be banned automatically?

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I've used the same exact name and billing address like a week after being disabled with no problems.

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Hey Snipe,

I was just going from this on their FAQ:

Since I'm in the UK using Facebook ads for business use I don't get charged VAT & I don't think I need my VAT number on the invoices.

As for the payments, if you expand your payment on your statements the address is their US address not their IE one. They do however put in Facebook Ireland LTD as the business name so I'm not sure if this changes anything?

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Ah ok, I hadn't noticed that. Doubt it would change much. I'm just going to continue using the address in Dublin they issue on the invoices. If at some point I have a reason to exclude fbads from my VAT return, getting an account from one of the guys on here should default everything to the US HQ. Either way for now, it shouldn't make much difference.

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No automatically, only if they do a manual review of your account and are in a bad mood.

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