EU VAT number check

How to check an EU VAT number

To check an EU VAT number, you ask VIES, the European Commission's system that queries the VAT databases of all member states. Type the number with its country code, such as BE, NL, FR or DE, and VIES says whether it is valid for trade within the EU, with name and address where the country shares them. For a Belgian number the check also looks in the Peppol Directory and the network register, so you know whether the company can receive the e-invoices Belgium has required between businesses since 1 January 2026.

There is no account and nothing is stored. The check asks the source at the moment you search, which matters because a VAT number valid today can lapse tomorrow when a company stops trading or loses its VAT registration.

VAT number formats by country

Each member state has its own format. The check reads the shape in your browser first, so a typo shows at once, and then asks VIES. A Belgian number carries a check digit as well: the last two digits are 97 minus the first eight digits modulo 97.

UK numbers starting with GB left VIES after Brexit; only Northern Ireland remains for goods, with the code XI. Check other UK numbers with HMRC.

What an invalid result means for your invoice

When you invoice a service to a business in another EU country, you usually charge no VAT and write reverse charge on the invoice. When you ship goods to another EU country, the supply is exempt. Both rest on your client's VAT number. Since the EU quick fixes of 2020, a valid number is a hard condition for the exempt intra-EU supply, not a formality.

If VIES says the number is not valid, do not assume your client is a VAT-registered business. Charge VAT, or ask for the right number before you invoice. Keep the result of a valid lookup with your invoice as proof that you checked on the day of supply. What Belgian VAT you would charge otherwise, the Belgian VAT calculator works out.

Sometimes VIES gives no answer because a member state's database is briefly offline. That is not an invalid number: try again later, and only invoice without VAT once the number is confirmed. Germany does not share name and address through VIES, so for a German number you only see whether it is valid.

Belgian clients and Peppol

Since 1 January 2026, Belgian VAT-registered businesses must exchange structured e-invoices over Peppol; a PDF by email no longer does. A supplier abroad with only a Belgian VAT registration and no establishment in Belgium is outside that obligation, but Belgian clients ask for Peppol invoices anyway because their accounting software expects them. For a Belgian number the check answers both questions at once, using the same sources as our Peppol check.

If your client is not on Peppol yet, ask when they will join and how they want invoices in the meantime. Who falls under the mandate is in is Peppol mandatory in Belgium, what it takes to join in Peppol registration, and which tools send Peppol invoices in which software for Peppol. The guide to e-invoicing in Belgium puts it together. Belgium is not alone: Italy has required business e-invoicing since 2019, Croatia, Poland and Greece followed in 2026, France started receiving in September 2026, and Germany requires sending from 2027.