Validate EU VAT Numbers —
and Prove It During Audits
Validate EU VAT numbers in a single REST call. Supply your own VAT as requester and every qualified response includes the EU Commission consultation number — the audit token VIES issues to prove the check happened. Plus national registry fallback, enriched company data, and VAT rates for 45 European countries. Built for B2B SaaS and e-commerce selling into Europe.
Built for production systems — not just form validation.
{ "consultationNumber": "WAPIAAAAZ27qPadm", ... }
Pass your own VAT as requester and VIES issues this official audit token — attach it to your invoice records
curl "https://api.vatnode.dev/v1/vat/IE6388047V" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
{
"valid": true,
"vatId": "IE6388047V",
"countryCode": "IE",
"countryName": "Ireland",
"companyName": "GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED",
"companyAddress": "3RD FLOOR, GORDON HOUSE, BARROW STREET, DUBLIN 4",
"companyRegistrationDate": null,
"companyForm": null,
"industryDescription": null,
"registryCode": null,
"registryCodeName": null,
"countryVat": {
"vatName": "Value Added Tax",
"vatAbbr": "VAT",
"currency": "EUR",
"standardRate": 23,
"reducedRates": [
9,
13.5
],
"vatNumberFormat": "IE + 8-9 chars",
"vatNumberPattern": "^IE[0-9A-Z+*]{7}[A-Z]{1,2}$"
},
"checkId": "019d2a89-a5d9-7b97-b710-57b84604de2b",
"verifiedAt": "2026-03-26T14:25:57.209Z",
"consultationNumber": "WAPIAAAAZ27qPadm",
"source": "VIES"
}Used to validate VAT at checkout, invoicing, and B2B onboarding.
Since January 2020, a valid customer VAT number is a substantive legal condition for zero-rating intra-EU goods supplies — not a best practice. VAT number validation at invoice time is your first line of defence.
Why this matters
Boolean VAT Validation Is Not Enough for Audits
During a tax audit, showing that a VAT number was checked and valid at the time of invoice is a legal requirement for zero-rated intra-EU supplies. A boolean result from your own system proves nothing to a tax authority.
vatnode returns the official consultation number issued by the EU Commission — a verifiable reference that shows the check was performed, when, and what the result was. vatnode returns it as part of every qualified validation response.
Why a basic VIES call is not enough
Boolean true Is Not Audit Evidence
A Raw VIES Check
- ×Returns valid/invalid — no proof the check happened
- ×No official reference to attach to an invoice
- ×Fails during country-level VIES outages
- ×No enriched company data from national registries
vatnode
- ✓EU Commission consultation number — independently verifiable
- ✓checkId + verifiedAt — permanent, timestamped audit record
- ✓National registry fallback for covered EU countries
- ✓Legal form, registration date, industry — in one call
Everything You Need for EU VAT Compliance
One API call returns validated status, enriched company data, VAT rates, and an audit trail — ready for checkout, invoicing, and B2B onboarding.
Real-time + Resilient
National registry fallback via tax authority and company registry APIs keeps validation working even when a country node is temporarily unavailable. Cache hits return in <50ms; live checks in 200–800ms.
Audit-Proof Evidence
Supply your own VAT as requester and every qualified validation returns an official consultation number from the EU Commission — a verifiable token that proves the check happened at a specific time. Store it alongside your invoices as evidence tax authorities can verify independently.
Know Before You Invoice
Subscribe to your customers' and suppliers' VAT IDs. Get a webhook the moment one de-registers — so you fix the next invoice before it goes out wrong, instead of finding out at audit time.
Enriched Company Data
Beyond VIES: registration date, legal form (GmbH, SAS, AB…), and industry code from national registries. Local VAT name, abbreviation, all rate tiers, and currency — in every response.
Where a VAT number belongs to a sole trader, some fields may constitute personal data under GDPR.
Developer-First
Clean REST API over HTTPS. Works with any language — curl, JavaScript, Python, PHP, Ruby, Go. Up and running in minutes.
MCP Server for AI Agents
Plug Claude Desktop, Cursor, ChatGPT — anything that speaks Model Context Protocol — straight into vatnode. Your AI assistant validates VAT IDs and looks up rates in the chat, with your key staying on your machine. Open source.
Up and Running in Minutes
No SDK. No infrastructure. Just one HTTP call.
Create Your Account
Sign up and get an API key instantly. Free plan, no credit card required.
vat_test_••••••••••••••••
vat_live_••••••••••••••••
Make a Request
One HTTP call. Works with any language — curl, JavaScript, Python, PHP.
GET /v1/vat/IE6388047V
Authorization: Bearer vat_live_...
Get Structured Data
Company name, address, validity, and VAT rates for the country — all in one response.
"valid": true,
"companyName": "GOOGLE...",
Built for Real B2B Workflows
vatnode handles VAT validation wherever your business touches an EU counterparty.
Checkout
Validate a customer's VAT number at checkout to apply the correct reverse charge or tax rate — without blocking the buy button on VIES downtime.
Invoicing
Verify VAT before generating zero-rated intra-EU invoices. Store the consultationNumber alongside your invoice — it's the EU Commission-issued reference that proves the check happened at invoice time.
B2B Onboarding
Confirm a new business customer is registered. Enrich the record with legal form, registry code, and industry from national registries.
Monitoring
Track VAT IDs of active customers and get webhook alerts when a registration becomes invalid between billing cycles — before it surfaces in an audit.
Built for Every EU Stack and Country
Drop-in integration guides for your language, and dedicated reference pages for every EU member state.
Validate VAT in Your Stack
How to Validate EU VAT Numbers
Format checks, live lookup, audit trail.
VAT Validation in Node.js
fetch / undici, TypeScript types, retries.
VAT Validation in Python
httpx + async/await, retries, audit logs.
VAT Validation in PHP
Guzzle + Composer, Laravel-friendly.
VAT Validation in Go
net/http, structured errors, context.
VAT Validation in Ruby
Faraday + Rails conventions.
Stripe VAT Validation
Add EU VAT validation to Stripe Checkout.
Migrating from VIES SOAP
REST JSON alternative with fallback and audit trail.
VAT Number Format & Rates by Country
Pricing Tied to What It Prevents
Failed B2B invoices, wrong reverse-charge VAT decisions, and audits you cannot defend — every plan stops all three. Pick a tier based on volume and how often you re-check existing customers.
Prevents
Failed B2B invoices
VAT ID validated at checkout and invoice time, before the transaction commits.
Prevents
Wrong reverse-charge VAT
Country code + validity returned, so your tax engine applies the right B2B treatment.
Prevents
Audit exposure
Consultation number, checkId, and verifiedAt timestamp on every qualified response.
Free
For testing and small projects
- 100 requests/month
- VAT validation
- VAT rates API
- Community support
Starter
For growing businesses
- 1,000 requests/month
- Everything in Free
- Weekly monitoring
- Webhooks
- Email support
Pro
For high-volume needs
- 10,000 requests/month
- Everything in Starter
- Daily monitoring
- Priority support
What vatnode Adds Beyond the Raw VIES API
The official VIES API returns a valid/invalid signal and basic company details. vatnode adds national registry fallback, enriched company data, audit trail, and VAT rates — all in a single REST call. Read the full EU VAT validation API overview.
All of the above arrives in a single REST call. See the full response schema
Looking at other VAT API providers? See how vatnode compares →
On a non-Stripe billing stack? Read the Stripe Tax alternative breakdown →
Built for the People Who Sign the Contract — and the People Who Ship the Code
Finance picks the vendor. Engineering does the integration. vatnode is the rare tool both sides agree on.
Defensible Audit Evidence, Not Best-Effort Lookups
- • Wrong VAT on an invoice means tax exposure.A VIES check that isn't logged is a check that didn't happen as far as auditors are concerned.
- • EU Commission consultation number on every qualified check — a verifiable token tax authorities can independently confirm. The same evidence every Big 4 tax team will ask for.
- • Monitoring catches de-registrations before the next invoice — not at audit time, when the fine has already accrued.
- • EU-hosted, EU-operated. DPA available. No US sub-processors in the validation path.
The API Your Team Actually Enjoys Using
- • One REST call. JSON over HTTPS. No SOAP, no SDK, no vendor runtime. curl works.
- • Predictable error contract. Documented codes, real
requestIdon every response, no surprise 200s wrapping failures. - • Resilient by default. National-registry fallback when a VIES member node is down — so your job queue keeps moving instead of paging someone.
- • Test mode without rituals.Test keys return deterministic fixtures, don't hit VIES, don't count toward quota.
Just need VAT rates? The dataset is free and open-source.
Current standard, reduced, super-reduced and parking rates for 45 European countries — via GET /v1/rates (no API key) or the open-source npm/pip/Composer package. Updated daily from the EC TEDB.
Explore vatnode
Tools, references, and guides for validating EU VAT numbers and getting the B2B tax treatment right.
Check a VAT Number
Validate a specific EU VAT number and see the company it belongs to.
EU VAT Validation API
The EU VAT validation API — one REST endpoint for validation, company enrichment, and audit evidence.
Reverse Charge by Country
When to zero-rate a cross-border B2B sale and how the reverse charge applies.
EU VAT Rates
Standard, reduced, and super-reduced rates for 45 European countries.
Compare VAT APIs
How vatnode stacks up against other EU VAT validation providers.
All Guides
Integration walkthroughs and EU VAT background reading.
Popular Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know before integrating
What is vatnode?▾
vatnode is an EU VAT number validation API. You send a VAT ID, and vatnode checks it in real time against the official EU VIES system, enriches it with national registry data where available, and returns a clean JSON response with the validity result, company details, VAT rates for that country, and a timestamped audit reference. It's built for developers adding VAT validation to invoicing, checkout, or supplier-onboarding flows.
Why do I need to validate EU VAT numbers for B2B sales?▾
When you sell goods B2B to a customer in another EU country, you can generally zero-rate the supply as an intra-Community supply — but only if the customer has a valid EU VAT number (validated in VIES) at the time of supply, you report it on your EC Sales List, and you can evidence both the check and that the goods actually crossed the border. For cross-border B2B services the mechanism is different: the supply is outside your country's VAT and the customer accounts for VAT under the reverse charge. If the conditions aren't met or you can't evidence them, the tax authority can deny the zero-rating and assess the VAT against you.
How accurate is the validation?▾
vatnode queries the official VIES database in real time, so accuracy is as good as the EU system itself: when VIES says "valid", the number was registered and active at the exact moment of the check. Some member states update their registrations closer to real time than others, so a very recent change may take a day or two to appear. Valid results are cached for 15 minutes for speed; for absolute certainty on a high-value transaction you can force a fresh VIES check with force=true.
Which countries are supported?▾
Live validation covers all 27 EU member states plus Northern Ireland (XI), all through VIES. (Note: vatnode follows the VIES convention of EL for Greece, not the ISO GR.) VAT-rate and format reference data covers a wider set of European countries, but number validation is EU-27 + XI only.
What happens when VIES is temporarily unavailable?▾
VIES is shared infrastructure across 27 national tax authorities and has occasional outages, sometimes affecting just one country. When a check can't be completed and no fallback succeeds, vatnode returns HTTP 503 with the code VIES_UNAVAILABLE — which is very different from an "invalid" result. The right pattern is to treat it as a signal to retry later rather than to reject the customer; for several countries vatnode's national-registry fallback returns a result even while VIES is down.
What plans are available?▾
Free (100 requests/month, no card), Starter at €19/month (1,000 requests), Pro at €49/month (10,000 requests), and Enterprise (custom limits, on request). Paid plans also unlock VAT-monitoring subscriptions and webhooks; the Free plan is validation-only. Billing is monthly, with no annual commitment.
Ready to Validate VAT Numbers?
Start validating in minutes. Free plan, no credit card — test your full integration before you upgrade.
Built by Iurii Rogulia for EU compliance.