VAT number validator
Check that a European VAT number is genuine and registered before you invoice or pay a supplier — verified live against the EU's official VIES service.
What this checks
Every business in the EU that is registered for VAT has a VAT number, and the EU runs a free public service called VIES that says whether a given number is valid and currently registered. This tool asks VIES for you and shows the answer — plus, for many countries, the registered business name and address on file. Use it to check a new supplier or customer before you send a zero-VAT invoice or pay an unfamiliar company. Your query goes to VIES through our server (VIES cannot be called directly from a browser); a VAT number is business information, not personal data, and we do not store or log it.
What does "valid" actually mean?
It means the number exists and is currently registered for cross-border EU VAT in that country, according to the official VIES database. "Invalid" means VIES has no active registration for it — a typo, a deregistered company, or a number that was never registered for intra-EU trade.
Why do I sometimes not see a name and address?
Some member states return the registered name and address; others return only "valid/invalid" for privacy reasons. When a country does not share those details, you still get the valid/invalid answer.
Is this an official check?
The answer comes straight from the European Commission's VIES service, so it is as official as an online check gets. For your records, keep the date — a registration can change over time, so a check is a snapshot of today.
It says VIES is unavailable — what now?
VIES depends on each country's own tax system, and those occasionally go offline for maintenance. That is a temporary hiccup on their side, not a problem with your number — wait a few minutes and try again.
Do you store the VAT numbers I check?
No. The number is passed to VIES to get an answer and then forgotten — nothing is saved or logged on our side. A company VAT number is business data, not personal data.
Which countries are covered?
All 27 EU member states, plus Northern Ireland (XI). Greece uses the code EL rather than GR. Non-EU VAT or tax numbers (for example UK "GB" numbers after Brexit) are not in VIES.
Why checking a VAT number is worth the ten seconds
For a business trading across the EU, a customer's VAT number is not just a formality — it decides how you invoice. Selling to another EU business with a valid VAT number often lets you invoice without charging VAT (a zero-rated intra-community supply), but that only holds if the number is genuinely valid and registered. Bill the wrong way and you can end up owing the VAT yourself. A quick check before you raise the invoice, or before you pay a supplier you do not know, protects you from typos, out-of-date numbers and the occasional outright fraud.
What VIES is
VIES — the VAT Information Exchange System — is the European Commission's free, official service for confirming VAT numbers. It does not hold one central database; it forwards your query to the relevant country's own tax administration and relays the answer back. "Valid" therefore means the number is currently registered for cross-border EU VAT in that country, according to that country's own records. "Invalid" means there is no active registration for it — which could be a typo, a business that has deregistered, or a number that was never set up for intra-EU trade in the first place.
The name and address, and keeping a record
For many countries VIES also returns the registered business name and address, which is a quick way to confirm the number really belongs to the company you think it does. Some member states withhold those details for privacy reasons and return only a valid/invalid answer — you still get the verdict, just without the name. Because a registration can change over time, it is good practice to note the date you checked. A verification is a snapshot of that moment, and a dated record is exactly what you want if a tax authority ever asks you to show that you did your due diligence.
The common gotchas
A few quirks trip people up. Greece uses the country code EL, not GR. Northern Ireland has its own code, XI, for goods. Since Brexit, ordinary UK "GB" numbers are no longer in VIES at all, so they cannot be checked here. Spacing and punctuation do not matter — the tool strips them out — and if you paste a number that already starts with its country code, it is handled for you. If you are unsure of a number's country, the two-letter prefix at the start of a full VAT number tells you which one to pick.
Availability and privacy
Because VIES relies on each country's own system, an individual country's service occasionally goes down for maintenance. When that happens you will see a "temporarily unavailable" message — that is a hiccup on their side, not a problem with the number, and it usually clears within minutes. On privacy: a company VAT number is business data, not personal data, and we do not store or log the numbers you check. The query is passed to VIES to get an answer and then forgotten, so you can verify a supplier or customer without leaving a trail behind you.
