Check a client's VAT number in VIES, the European Commission's system, before you invoice them without VAT under the reverse charge.
VIES, the VAT Information Exchange System, is the European Commission's search service, connected to the VAT databases of the 27 EU countries. This page sends the number to VIES and shows its answer: whether the number is valid for trade between EU countries and, where the country shares them, the name and address registered with it.
Check a client's number before you invoice them without VAT under the reverse charge: a number that VIES confirms is the usual evidence that your client is a business registered for VAT in another EU country. Keep the date of the check, or better, the consultation number, with the invoice.
Numbers starting with XI belong to businesses in Northern Ireland and are in VIES for trade in goods. Other UK numbers, starting with GB, are not.
9 stands for a digit and X for a letter or a digit.
| Country | Format |
|---|---|
| Austria | ATU99999999 |
| Belgium | BE0999999999 BE1999999999 |
| Bulgaria | BG999999999 BG9999999999 |
| Cyprus | CY99999999X |
| Czechia | CZ99999999 CZ999999999 CZ9999999999 |
| Germany | DE999999999 |
| Denmark | DK99999999 |
| Estonia | EE999999999 |
| Greece | EL999999999 |
| Spain | ESX9999999X |
| Finland | FI99999999 |
| France | FRXX999999999 |
| Croatia | HR99999999999 |
| Hungary | HU99999999 |
| Ireland | IE9999999X IE9999999XX IE9X99999X |
| Italy | IT99999999999 |
| Lithuania | LT999999999 LT999999999999 |
| Luxembourg | LU99999999 |
| Latvia | LV99999999999 |
| Malta | MT99999999 |
| Netherlands | NL999999999B99 |
| Poland | PL9999999999 |
| Portugal | PT999999999 |
| Romania | RO99 … RO9999999999 |
| Sweden | SE999999999901 |
| Slovenia | SI99999999 |
| Slovakia | SK9999999999 |
| Northern Ireland | XI999999999 XI999999999999 XIGD999 XIHA999 |
That the country's tax authority confirms, on the day of the check, that the number is registered for VAT and for trade with other EU countries. A business can have a domestic VAT number that VIES shows as not valid if it is not registered for cross-border trade.
Some countries, Germany among them, do not share the name and address through VIES, and others share only the name. The number itself is still checked, and valid or not valid means the same.
A reference that VIES gives when you also enter your own EU VAT number. With it you can prove to a tax authority that you checked your client's number on that date and what VIES answered. Keep it with the invoice.
UK numbers starting with GB have not been in VIES since 1 January 2021: check them with HMRC's Check a UK VAT number service on GOV.UK. Numbers starting with XI, used by Northern Ireland businesses that trade goods with the EU, can be checked here.
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