Tool
Check a VAT number format
Checks, in your browser, whether a VAT number has the structure the issuing country uses. The number you type is not sent anywhere.
A format check is not a validity check.
A number can have the right format and still not exist, no longer be active, or not be registered for intra-EU trade. Only the issuing country's database can confirm that. For EU numbers, check validity in the European Commission's official VIES checker.
What the answers mean
- Format matches
- The number has the structure we confirmed in an official source for that country. It says nothing about whether the number was issued or is active.
- Format does not match
- The number does not have that structure: it is probably mistyped or has the wrong prefix. Ask your customer to confirm it.
- Format not verified
- We have not confirmed this country's structure in an official source, so we do not test it. Check the number with VIES or the national tax authority.
Limits
- Structures confirmed in official documentation: 30 of 30 countries. Details in the formats guide.
- No check digits are tested, only the structure.
- Norway, Switzerland and United Kingdom are outside VIES. Confirm those numbers with the national tax authority.
- Northern Ireland (XI) numbers are not covered.
- To keep a record of a validity check for your files, use the official VIES checker; this page does not ask VIES anything.