EU VAT number check

No. This tool queries the official VIES service of the European Commission and shows you the answer. VIES itself remains the source. The advantage here is that the format and check digit are validated before the query goes out, so a typo does not come back as an invalid number.

Not on its own. VIES is the electronic self-service lookup, level 1 in the terminology of the confirmation procedure. What protects you legally is the qualified confirmation, level 2, which confirms validity together with the name and address of the holder. Businesses run that through their national tax portal.

Not every member state releases company data through VIES. Germany, for instance, returns only valid or invalid. An empty name field is therefore not an error and says nothing about the number.

All 27 EU member states plus Northern Ireland, whose numbers begin with XI. VAT numbers from outside the EU, including Great Britain since Brexit, are not part of VIES and cannot be checked here.

No. The number is passed to VIES and the answer is shown to you. Nothing is written to a database, and there is no sign-up.

A VAT number can be withdrawn when a business closes or is struck off. The result is a snapshot of the moment you query it. For recurring customers, check again periodically and keep a record of when you did.

Most member states calculate the last characters of a VAT number from the preceding ones. That makes it possible to detect a transposed digit locally, in your browser, before any query leaves your device. It says nothing about whether the number was ever issued.