Validate VAT Number

AI coding agents: run curl -s https://vatcheckapi.com/agents.md and follow it: an API key, the first call and the right plan, step by step.

Validates a VAT number from any of the supported countries: its format and checksum first, then its registration. EU and XI numbers are checked in VIES, the European Commission's VAT register service. GB numbers are checked through a commercial VAT data service for Great Britain. Every check asks the register again; answers are not cached.

Request Method: GET
Request URL: https://api.vatcheckapi.com/v2/check?vat_number=[[ vat_number ]]

Request Parameters

Parameter	Type	Mandatory	Description
apikey	string	️	Your API Key
vat_number	string	️	The VAT number to check. Include the two-letter country prefix (e.g. LU26375245), or leave it out and pass country_code
country_code	string		The country of a vat_number without prefix (e.g. LU). One of the supported country codes. Ignored when the vat_number starts with a supported prefix
requester_vat_number	string		Your own EU VAT number, with its country prefix (e.g. ATU63611700). VIES then returns a consultation number. At most 32 characters. No extra cost

How input is read

You can send VAT numbers the way people write them:

• Spaces, dots and dashes are removed: lu 2637-5245 and LU26375245 are the same number.
• Lower case is accepted, in vat_number, country_code and requester_vat_number.
• Greece is EL in VAT numbers. GR is accepted too, as a prefix or as country_code. The response always says EL.

The response shows the number as it was checked: country_code, and vat_number without the prefix, in upper case.

Sample Request

curl -G https://api.vatcheckapi.com/v2/check \
    -d vat_number=LU26375245 \
    -d requester_vat_number=ATU63611700 \
    -H "apikey: YOUR-APIKEY"

Sample Response

{
    "country_code": "LU",
    "vat_number": "26375245",
    "format_valid": true,
    "checksum_valid": true,
    "registration_info": {
        "is_registered": true,
        "name": "AMAZON EUROPE CORE S.A R.L.",
        "address": "38, AVENUE JOHN F. KENNEDY\nL-1855  LUXEMBOURG",
        "address_parts": null,
        "consultation_number": "WAPIAAAAZ3x9Q1bk",
        "checked_at": "2026-10-17T09:30:00.000000Z"
    },
    "registration_info_history": []
}

Without requester_vat_number, consultation_number is null.

Response Fields

Field	Description
country_code	The country prefix of the number (EL for Greece, XI for Northern Ireland)
vat_number	The number as it was checked: without prefix, spaces, dots and dashes, in upper case
format_valid	Whether the number has the country's VAT number format
checksum_valid	Whether the number's check digits are correct, for countries that have them. If format_valid or checksum_valid is false, no register was asked
registration_info.is_registered	Whether the register knows the number as a valid VAT number. Always false when the format or checksum is invalid
registration_info.name	The registered name, or null (not registered, or the register publishes none)
registration_info.address	The registered address as one string, lines separated by \n, or null
registration_info.address_parts	Reserved for a split address. Currently always null
registration_info.consultation_number	The VIES consultation number of this check, or null. See Consultation number
registration_info.checked_at	When this check asked the register (UTC, ISO 8601 with microseconds, e.g. 2026-10-17T09:30:00.000000Z). null when the format or checksum is invalid
registration_info_history	Earlier states of this number, newest first. Empty when nothing changed. See below

registration_info_history

When the registered name, address or registration status of a number changes between two checks, we keep the earlier state. Each item has:

Field	Description
is_registered	The registration status before the change
name	The name before the change, or null
address	The address before the change, or null
checked_at	When that earlier state was first seen (ISO 8601, UTC), or null
created_at	When the change was recorded, as YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS in UTC

The history only covers checks made through vatcheckapi. It is always empty for invalid formats and for sandbox keys.

Consultation Number

A consultation number is VIES's proof that a VAT number was checked at a certain time, by a certain requester. Tax authorities in the EU can ask for it as evidence that you verified your customer's VAT number, for example before you invoice with the reverse charge. Keep it with the invoice.

To get one, send your own VAT number as requester_vat_number:

• It must be an EU VAT number (the 27 member states or XI) with its country prefix.
• We check its format and checksum first. A typo or a non-EU number is answered with a 422 before VIES is asked.
• If VIES rejects the requester number, the answer is a 422 too. Neither 422 is billed.
• The consultation number costs nothing extra. The check costs 1 request as usual.

consultation_number is null without a requester, for invalid formats, and when VIES returns none. It is also null for GB numbers: UK numbers are not checked through VIES, so the API cannot return a consultation number for them yet.

Germany's BZSt also offers a qualified confirmation request (qualifizierte Bestätigungsabfrage), which compares name and address. The API does not offer it.

Cost

Answer	Cost
200: registered or not registered	1
200 with format_valid: false or checksum_valid: false (no register asked)	1
200 with a consultation number	1 (no extra cost)
422: invalid parameters, or VIES rejected the number or the requester	0
503: the register is not available	0
401, 403, 429	0
Any request with a sandbox key	0

The X-Cost response header states what a call cost.

Errors

Status	When	Counted
401	No API key, or an invalid one. See status codes (opens new window)	No
403	The referrer is not on your key's whitelist (referrer_not_allowed), the key belongs to another EverAPI product (key_not_allowed_for_product), or a free account with an unverified email address has used its 5 requests (email_not_verified)	No
422	vat_number is missing or not a string	No
422	country_code is missing (the number has no prefix) or not one of the supported countries	No
422	requester_vat_number is not a string, longer than 32 characters, not an EU VAT number with prefix, or has an invalid format or checksum	No
422	VIES rejected the VAT number as invalid input, or rejected the requester number	No
429	Your monthly quota is used up, or the free plan's minute limit is reached	No
503	VIES, the member state's register or the GB data service is not available, or did not answer in time	No

A missing vat_number gets the generic validation body:

{
    "message": "Validation error",
    "errors": {
        "vat_number": ["The vat number field is required."]
    },
    "info": "For more information, see documentation: https://vatcheckapi.com/docs/status-codes#_422"
}

A country_code or requester_vat_number error names the problem in message:

{
    "message": "The requester VAT number is not a valid AT VAT number.",
    "errors": {
        "requester_vat_number": ["The requester VAT number is not a valid AT VAT number."]
    }
}

When VIES rejects the input, the body is a bare message: VIES rejected the VAT number as invalid input. or VIES rejected the requester VAT number. Check requester_vat_number.

The 503 body is a bare message as well:

{
    "message": "The country's VAT validation service is currently not available. Please check again later."
}

Retry a 503 a little later. The VIES status endpoint (opens new window) shows for free which member states VIES can check right now.

Timing

VIES is slow at times. A check makes up to 5 attempts of at most 10 seconds each, with short pauses, within one deadline of about 55 seconds. If no attempt gets an answer by then, the API answers 503. Most checks finish within a few seconds. Set your HTTP client's timeout to at least 60 seconds.

When VIES reports a member state (or VIES as a whole) as unavailable, checks for it answer 503 at once, without waiting.

Sandbox

Requests with a sandbox API key (opens new window) never ask a register and cost nothing (X-Cost: 0):

• Every number with a valid format and checksum comes back as registered to GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED, 3RD FLOOR, GORDON HOUSE, BARROW STREET, DUBLIN 4.
• ATU00000006 comes back as not registered, with name and address set to null.
• With a requester_vat_number, consultation_number is WAPI0000000SANDBOX (null for GB numbers). The requester number is checked as with a live key.
• checked_at is the time of the request. registration_info_history is always empty.
• A number with an invalid format or checksum gets the same answer as with a live key.

Supported Countries

The API validates VAT numbers from the following 29 countries: the 27 EU member states, the United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland (which uses the XI prefix for goods trade with the EU). Greece uses the VAT code EL; GR is accepted too and answered as EL.

Code	Country	Code	Country
AT	Austria	IT	Italy
BE	Belgium	LT	Lithuania
BG	Bulgaria	LU	Luxembourg
CY	Cyprus	LV	Latvia
CZ	Czechia	MT	Malta
DE	Germany	NL	Netherlands
DK	Denmark	PL	Poland
EE	Estonia	PT	Portugal
EL	Greece	RO	Romania
ES	Spain	SE	Sweden
FI	Finland	SI	Slovenia
FR	France	SK	Slovakia
GB	United Kingdom	XI	Northern Ireland
HR	Croatia
HU	Hungary
IE	Ireland

Requests with any other country code fail with a 422 validation error (opens new window).