Why are there two VAT inputs?

[ianfp]

There are two VAT settings in the admin Customer Configuration:

Create New Account Options -> Show VAT Number on Frontend

Name and Address Options -> Show Tax/VAT Number

If I turn them both on, then the customer sees two VAT inputs while registering during checkout! Why are there two?

[geissweb]

Hi,

the field from the Name and Address Options was used before Magento 1.7 which introduced the new address based field. I think Magento left this for backwards compatibility.

I think you only should use the address based field, this field is also used when you use the Magento core VAT validation functions.