Free tool
EU VAT number check (VIES)
Check in real time whether an EU VAT number is registered for intra-Community trade before you invoice a business in another EU country without VAT. The answer comes from that country's own database, through the European Commission's VIES system.
How to use it
- 1Pick the country of the number. If you paste it with the prefix (ESB12345678, DE123456789), the country is set for you.
- 2Type the number without the prefix. Spaces, dots or dashes don't matter.
- 3Press Check. VIES asks the database of the country that issued the number, right then.
- 4If it comes back valid, press Copy proof of check and keep it in the customer's file with the invoice.
Examples
Invoicing a German customer from Spain without VAT
You sell €2,000 of goods to a company in Munich and ship them there. If its VAT number comes back valid, the supply is exempt (article 25 of the Spanish VAT Act, in Spanish): you invoice €2,000 without VAT, the customer accounts for the VAT in Germany (reverse charge, "inversión del sujeto pasivo") and you include the sale in your modelo 349 (in Spanish). If the customer has no valid VAT number, the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) says the supply is not exempt: the invoice carries Spanish VAT, €2,420 at 21%.
Before buying from an EU supplier
You're about to buy software from an Irish company and it asks for your VAT number so it doesn't charge you VAT. Check yours first: ES followed by your NIF. If you're not on the ROI (the Spanish register of intra-Community operators) it will come back invalid and, as the Commission itself explains in the VIES FAQ, the supplier will charge you VAT. Check theirs too: Ireland does show the name and address, so you know it's the company that will invoice you.
It comes back invalid: what to do
A French customer gives you their number and VIES says it's not valid. Go over the number and the prefix with them: that's the most common mistake. If they confirm it and it still comes back invalid, they have to ask their tax authority to update it. In the meantime, if you're not sure it's a business, the Commission advises not applying the exemption and charging VAT.
VAT number format in each EU country
Structure of the number after the country prefix, from the European Commission's table. 9 is a digit; X, a letter or a digit; L, a letter.
| Country | Prefix | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | AT | a U and 8 digits |
| Belgium | BE | 10 digits starting with 0 or 1 |
| Bulgaria | BG | 9 or 10 digits |
| Croatia | HR | 11 digits |
| Cyprus | CY | 8 digits and a letter |
| Czechia | CZ | 8, 9 or 10 digits |
| Denmark | DK | 8 digits |
| Estonia | EE | 9 digits |
| Finland | FI | 8 digits |
| France | FR | 2 letters or digits and 9 digits |
| Germany | DE | 9 digits |
| Greece | EL | 9 digits (Greece uses the prefix EL in VIES) |
| Hungary | HU | 8 digits |
| Ireland | IE | 8 or 9 characters: digits and one or two letters at the end |
| Italy | IT | 11 digits |
| Latvia | LV | 11 digits |
| Lithuania | LT | 9 or 12 digits |
| Luxembourg | LU | 8 digits |
| Malta | MT | 8 digits |
| Netherlands | NL | 12 characters; the tenth is always a B |
| Northern Ireland | XI | 9 or 12 digits, or GD/HA and 3 digits |
| Poland | PL | 10 digits |
| Portugal | PT | 9 digits |
| Romania | RO | between 2 and 10 digits |
| Slovakia | SK | 10 digits |
| Slovenia | SI | 8 digits |
| Spain | ES | 9 characters; the first and last can be a letter or a digit, but not both digits |
| Sweden | SE | 12 digits |
Invoice EU customers without redoing the VAT maths
When the customer has a VAT number from another EU country, Aikount issues the invoice without VAT, with the exemption and reverse charge wording, and prepares the data for each quarter's modelo 349 (in Spanish): customer, VAT number, key and taxable base.
Try AikountFrequently asked questions
What is VIES?
VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) is the European Commission's system for exchanging VAT information. Each time you check a number, VIES asks the database of the country that issued it, right then. There is no single European database with every company: the answer is the country's.
Why doesn't my Spanish NIF show as valid in VIES?
Because having a NIF (Spanish tax identification number) isn't enough: only businesses registered in the AEAT's Register of Intra-Community Operators (Registro de Operadores Intracomunitarios, ROI) show as valid. Your Spanish VAT number (NIF-IVA) is your NIF with the ES prefix in front. If you're not on the ROI, the AEAT explains it here.
How do I register in the ROI?
With modelo 036, the census declaration (declaración censal) filed with the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT): tick box 582 (registration request) and enter in box 584 the expected date of your first transaction. If the AEAT hasn't decided within three months, the request can be taken as refused (details from the AEAT). Once it's granted, check it here.
What should I keep as proof of the check?
The proof from this page (country, number, result, date and time) together with the invoice, which must show the customer's VAT number. If you want an official consultation number to show the Spanish tax authorities (Hacienda), the VIES website gives you one when you also enter your own VAT number as the requester.
Is it the same as validating a NIF or CIF?
No. Validating a NIF or CIF checks that the number is well formed (control letter or digit). VIES checks something else: that the business is registered right now for intra-Community transactions. A NIF can be correct and still not be in VIES.
What does it have to do with modelo 349?
Sales and services to businesses in other EU countries are reported in modelo 349 (in Spanish), the Spanish return for intra-Community transactions, with each customer's VAT number, and the Commission reminds you that number has to be correct. For supplies of goods, the exemption also depends on including them in that return (article 25 of the Spanish VAT Act, in Spanish).
Official sources
Data reviewed on 23 September 2026.
- European Commission: VIES, VAT number validation and FAQ
- AEAT: identification to do business with other EU businesses (ROI, VIES, NIF-IVA)
- AEAT: modelo 036, census declaration
- AEAT: registration or deregistration in the Register of Intra-Community Operators
- BOE: Spanish VAT Act (Ley 37/1992), article 25 (in Spanish)
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