Free EU VAT Number Validator
Confirm EU VAT registration numbers against the official VIES database and keep a timestamped evidence snapshot for your invoice records.
Validate an EU VAT number
Enter a VAT ID (e.g., DE123…) and confirm its status via VIES.
Loading…
This sends the VAT ID to the official VIES service for validation.
Informational only
This tool checks VAT IDs against VIES. VIES can be slow or temporarily unavailable.
- A “valid” result is not a guarantee of tax treatment. Always keep evidence and follow invoice rules.
- VAT IDs are business identifiers. Avoid sharing them unnecessarily.
A valid result answers one question
VIES is a search across national VAT registers and holds no register of its own. The lookup on this page sends a country code and a number to the member state that issued it, and returns what that state chooses to answer: at minimum whether the number is valid at that moment, and the trader name and address only where the state releases them. Several do not release them, which is why a result can come back valid with the name field empty. The question answered is whether that number exists and is registered for intra-EU trade. Whether the person emailing you is that business is a separate question with a separate answer.
Two results get misread. A number that works on a domestic invoice can return invalid here, because several member states require a further registration before a trader appears in VIES at all, so the customer is real, the registration is real, and the intra-EU flag is missing. The second is silence. VIES reports a member state outage inside a normal HTTP 200 response with a fault code such as MS_UNAVAILABLE, which this page renders as an outage message. Both are a reason to ask the customer a question. Neither is evidence that the business does not exist.
The evidence you keep is the part that decays. This lookup calls the basic checkVat operation, which answers with a request date and a validity flag and issues no reference number, so what you hold afterwards is your own timestamped note of a screen. VIES does issue a consultation number, through checkVatApprox and only when the query carries your own VAT number as the requester. Member states are required to record registration changes without delay, so a check made in March says nothing about an invoice raised in September. Re-check at the point of invoicing and file the result with the invoice.
What a VIES check proves
The page passes your input to the European Commission VIES service and reports what comes back. The judgement belongs to that service.
What it assumes
- Input is normalised to a two letter prefix and a number, with spaces removed and letters uppercased.
- Greece is submitted as EL, the code VIES uses, whichever of EL or GR you type.
- The result shown is the answer VIES gave for that number, from a lookup made within the last 24 hours.
- Lookup history stays in your browser with the number masked.
What it leaves out
- Per country VAT number format rules. A malformed number is rejected downstream by VIES.
- Any conclusion about VAT treatment. A valid answer confirms registration and stops there.
- Non-EU VAT registrations and other tax identifiers.
- A durable record. A number can change status between two lookups, so keep your own evidence.
Where the numbers come from
- The validity answer
- Published sourceEvery result comes from the European Commission VIES checkVat service, called server side and then held for 24 hours against the same country code and number. VIES VAT number validation, European Commission
- The input shape check
- Our own assumptionThe browser accepts two letters followed by 2 to 20 alphanumeric characters, and the server narrows that to 12 before it calls VIES.
Assumptions and sources checked 5 September 2026. Published figures move on their own schedule, so confirm anything you rely on against the authority that issues it.
How it works
- 01
Pick the country
EU member state the VAT ID was issued in.
- 02
Enter the VAT number
Formatted to that country's scheme.
- 03
Validate live
The tool queries VIES and returns a validity result + name when available.
- 04
Keep the evidence
Timestamp + result stored alongside your invoice record.
Related guides
How to verify a European VAT number using the VIES system
The prose version of what the tool automates: when in client intake to check, and what a valid result does and does not prove.
Read the guideHow to Write a Legally Compliant Invoice in Germany
A worked example of where the validated number belongs on the invoice, and what has to sit beside it to clear a client's accounts payable.
Read the guideHow to Invoice a UK Client Post-Brexit Without VAT Rework
Read this when a GB number will not validate. The UK sits outside VIES, so the invoice question is answered a different way.
Read the guideFrequently Asked Questions
What is VIES?+
Why should I validate an EU VAT number?+
What if VIES is down or slow?+
Does "valid" guarantee reverse charge VAT applies?+
Does Gruv run VAT validation during onboarding?+
How should I use this VAT ID result?+
VIES checks are step one. Gruv runs the rest
Slot VAT validation into a live onboarding gate alongside KYC, sanctions screening, and tax-form collection before the first euro moves.
Many teams start with a narrow launch in weeks.