VAT number check: is your customer's EU VAT number live today?
Pick the country, type the number, and the member state that issued it answers in a second or two. If it says yes, you can usually invoice that business without charging VAT. If it says no, you know before the invoice goes out.
Pick the country your customer is registered in, then enter their number.
The answer appears here: valid or not, and the registered name and address where the member state shares them.
What a valid VIES result proves, and what it doesn't
VIES answers one narrow question. It is worth knowing exactly which one before you rely on it for a zero-rated invoice.
A "valid" answer tells you
- The number exists and is switched on for cross-border EU trade right now. The VIES FAQ says each request goes to the database of the state that issued the number, in real time.
- Which business holds it, where the state allows that to be shown. Some states return a name and address; others return only yes or no.
- The moment of the answer. The request date in the result is your timestamp for the file.
It doesn't tell you
- That the person emailing you works for that business. Match the name on the result to the purchase order and the contract.
- That your supply is exempt or reverse charged. That depends on what you sell, where it goes and who the buyer is, as chapter 05 shows.
- Anything about solvency, ownership or the right to trade. VIES is a VAT register, not a company register. For that, search the business register itself, as in our Cyprus company search guide.
Keep a record you can show a tax inspector
- Run the check before you issue the invoice, not after the payment.
- Save the result: number, name, address and request date.
- Check again for a new contract or a long gap; registrations can be cancelled.
Number: EE1XXXXXXXX
Valid: yes
Name: as returned by the state
Asked: 13 Nov 2026, 16:48 UTC
Valid means registered for intra-EU trade today. Who you are dealing with, and how to tax the sale, are still yours to settle.
VAT number formats by EU country
Every state writes its numbers differently, from Romania's 2 digits to Sweden's 12. The structures below are the ones the Commission publishes in the VIES FAQ, with each state's own maintenance windows from the VIES help page.
| Country | Format | When VIES can't reach it | Try it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | ATU99999999U plus 8 digits. Enter the U: it is part of every Austrian number | Down almost daily around 06:00 for a few minutes | |
| Belgium | BE0999999999BE199999999910 digits. Starts with 0 or 1 | Open around the clock | |
| Bulgaria | BG999999999BG99999999999 or 10 digits | No window published | |
| Cyprus | CY99999999L8 digits and a letter. Ends with a letter | Open around the clock | |
| Czechia | CZ99999999CZ999999999CZ99999999998, 9 or 10 digits | Down daily around 07:00 for about 20 minutes | |
| Germany | DE9999999999 digits | Answers from 05:00 to 23:00 only | |
| Denmark | DK99 99 99 998 digits, often written in pairs | Down daily 04:00 to 05:00, and Tuesdays 06:45 to 07:15 | |
| Estonia | EE9999999999 digits | Open around the clock | |
| Greece | EL9999999999 digits. Prefix is EL, not GR | Open around the clock | |
| Spain | ESX9999999X9 characters. First and last may be letters or digits, never both digits | Down daily around 23:00 for a few minutes | |
| Finland | FI999999998 digits | Down Sundays 05:40 to 05:50 | |
| France | FRXX 9999999992 characters, then 9 digits. The 2 characters are a key and can be letters | Down almost daily 01:30 to 01:40 | |
| Croatia | HR9999999999911 digits | No window published | |
| Hungary | HU999999998 digits | Open around the clock | |
| Ireland | IE9S99999LIE9999999WI8 or 9 characters. Newer numbers end in two letters | Down Sunday nights for up to 2 hours | |
| Italy | IT9999999999911 digits | Down Monday to Saturday from 20:00 for 30 to 60 minutes | |
| Lithuania | LT999999999LT9999999999999 or 12 digits | Open around the clock | |
| Luxembourg | LU999999998 digits | Open around the clock | |
| Latvia | LV9999999999911 digits | Open around the clock | |
| Malta | MT999999998 digits | Down Thursdays 07:00 to 07:30 | |
| Netherlands | NLSSSSSSSSSSSS12 characters. Usually 9 digits, B, then 2 digits | Down every weekend, Saturday 21:50 to Sunday 21:40 | |
| Poland | PL999999999910 digits | Open around the clock | |
| Portugal | PT9999999999 digits | Down Fridays from around 23:30 for 30 minutes or more | |
| Romania | RO99RO99999999992 to 10 digits. Shortest is 2 digits, longest 10 | Down most weekends, Saturday 21:50 to Sunday 21:50 | |
| Sweden | SE99999999999912 digits | Open around the clock | |
| Slovenia | SI999999998 digits | Down a few hours during the night | |
| Slovakia | SK999999999910 digits | Open around the clock | |
| Northern Ireland | XI999 9999 99XI999 9999 99 999XIGD999XIHA9999 or 12 digits, or GD or HA plus 3 digits. 12 digits mark a branch; GD government departments; HA health authorities | Down Saturdays 07:30 to 10:30, and almost daily around 04:30 to 04:40 |
9 a digitX a letter or a digitL a letterS a letter, a digit, + or *Times are as the Commission lists them.
Wrong length is the most common reason for "invalid". Count the characters after the prefix before you ask the customer to call their tax office.
Northern Ireland and the XI prefix
Since Brexit, UK numbers starting GB are not in VIES. Northern Ireland is the exception for goods, under the Windsor Framework.
A business in Northern Ireland that sells or moves goods to or from the EU puts XI in front of its usual nine-digit UK VAT number. It is the same registration with a different prefix, and EU suppliers and customers can look it up here like any member state number.
For services, for trade with Great Britain and for trade with the rest of the world, the business keeps quoting GB. GOV.UK's guidance warns that using the wrong one can mean paying or charging the wrong VAT on goods.
So if a Belfast supplier sends you an XI number on an invoice for consulting, ask for the GB number instead, and confirm it with HMRC's own UK VAT checker. VIES will not answer for GB.
XI is for goods between Northern Ireland and the EU. Everything else from a UK business carries GB, which only HMRC can confirm.
When a member state's VIES service is down
VIES has no copy of the data. When a national database is offline for backups, nobody can confirm that state's numbers until it comes back.
MS_UNAVAILABLEThe issuing state's system is offline. Its window in the table above usually explains why.MS_MAX_CONCURRENT_REQThat state is answering too many requests at once. Wait a minute and try again.GLOBAL_MAX_CONCURRENT_REQVIES as a whole is at capacity. Same cure: a short wait.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLEThe Commission's service itself is down.INVALID_INPUTThe number doesn't fit the country's structure. Compare it with chapter 02.- Retry after the windowGermany answers only between 05:00 and 23:00, the Netherlands goes quiet most of each weekend. Try again once the listed time has passed.
- Keep proof that you triedNote the date, time and the error. If the deal can't wait, ask the customer for their VAT registration certificate.
- Charge VAT if in doubtThe VIES FAQ is plain: if you believe the customer is not a taxable person, charge VAT rather than exempting the supply. A credit note can follow once the number confirms.
Your local time will show here, so you can compare it with the windows.
An outage is not an "invalid". Wait out the window, keep a note, and don't zero-rate until you have a yes.
Reverse charge basics for B2B invoices
The reason most people run a VAT number check: selling to a business in another EU country usually means no VAT on your invoice, with the customer accounting for it at home.
Tallinn, Estonia
VAT EE1XXXXXXXX
Hamburg, Germany
VAT DE2XXXXXXXX
| Data pipeline consulting, October | EUR 5,000.00 |
| VAT | 0.00 |
| Total due | EUR 5,000.00 |
Reverse charge: VAT to be accounted for by the recipient.
123- 1Both VAT numbers on the invoice. The customer's is the one you just confirmed. Without it, the invoice can't support the zero.
- 2No VAT charged. Services to a business are taxed where the customer is established (VAT Directive, Article 44), and the customer pays it (Article 196).
- 3The words "Reverse charge". Article 226(11a) asks for that mention. Then list the sale in your recapitulative statement, the EU sales list your tax office collects (Article 262).
Goods follow a similar path under Article 138: since 2020 the buyer's valid VAT number and your recapitulative statement are conditions for the exemption, not paperwork after the fact.
What the customer accounts for
Confirm the number, print both numbers, write "Reverse charge", and report the sale. Skip one and the zero is open to challenge.
VAT on a Heirson EU company: Cyprus, Malta, Estonia, Bulgaria
Form one of these and your company gets its own EU VAT number, the kind your clients will paste into a box like the one above. Here is what each one means in practice.
- Registration
- Above EUR 15,600 of Cyprus sales in 12 months, or from the first service sold to an EU business
- Number
- CY99999999L
- Registration
- From the first taxable sale; local-only businesses under EUR 35,000 can use the small enterprise scheme
- Number
- MT99999999
- Registration
- Required from EUR 40,000 of taxable turnover; below it you can still register voluntarily
- Number
- EE999999999
- Registration
- EUR 51,130 threshold, but services to EU businesses need a number from day one
- Number
- BG999999999
Selling services to businesses in other EU states is where all four meet: the invoice carries no local VAT, the client reverse charges it, and the sale goes on your EU sales list. The detail per country, with rates and deadlines, is on the Cyprus, Malta, Estonia and Bulgaria tax pages.
Any of the four gives you a VIES-visible number. Pick on corporate tax and running cost, not on VAT, which works the same way for EU business clients.
VAT number check questions
Short answers, with the official source where there is one.
How do I check if an EU VAT number is valid?
Choose the country that issued the number, type it with or without the prefix, and run the check. The request goes through the European Commission's VIES system to that country's own VAT database, which answers valid or not valid in real time, often with the registered name and address.
Can I find a company's VAT number from its name?
No. VIES only confirms a number you already have; the Commission says it has no access to look numbers up by name or address. Ask your customer or supplier for it, or look at their invoices, website footer or order forms.
Why does a valid result show no name or address?
Each member state decides whether VIES may display the name and address behind a number. Where a state doesn't allow it, the answer is a plain yes or no. The number is still valid for cross-border trade.
Can I check a UK VAT number in VIES?
Not a GB number: since Brexit, UK numbers starting GB are looked up with HMRC's own service on GOV.UK. Numbers with the XI prefix, used by Northern Ireland businesses for goods traded with the EU, do answer in VIES.
What does "member state service unavailable" mean?
The tax database of the country that issued the number is offline, often for a scheduled backup. It says nothing about the number itself. Try again after that state's maintenance window, and keep a note of the attempt.
Do I still charge VAT if the customer's number is invalid?
Yes, until it confirms. The Commission's VIES guidance says that if you believe the customer is not a taxable person, you should charge VAT rather than exempt the supply. You can issue a credit note once a valid number is confirmed.
What is the Greek VAT prefix?
EL. Greece's VAT numbers start with EL followed by 9 digits, even though its ISO country code is GR. This checker accepts either and sends EL to VIES.
Need an EU VAT number of your own?
Clients in Germany or France will run this same check on you. A Cyprus, Malta, Estonian or Bulgarian company gives them a number that answers yes, and gives you an EU base with its own bank account, set up with you.