# EU VAT Validator — Bulk VIES Check with Audit Reference (`accountable_eel/eu-vat-validator`) Actor

Validate EU VAT numbers in bulk against VIES, the European Commission's official registry. Get back company name, address, and an official EU audit reference for every valid number — pay only for the ones that actually validate.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/accountable\_eel/eu-vat-validator.md
- **Developed by:** [Adrian Voss](https://apify.com/accountable_eel) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.40 / 1,000 successful lookups

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## EU VAT Validator — Bulk VIES Check with Audit Reference

You paste a list of EU VAT numbers and get back, per number, whether it's currently valid,
the registered company's legal name and address when VIES has one, and — if you supply your
own VAT number — a real official EU audit reference proving you checked. Every result comes
straight from **VIES**, the European Commission's own validation registry, queried live on
every run. Nothing is cached, nothing is guessed, and nothing is charged for a number that
doesn't validate.

### Who it's for

The accountable\_eel catalogue sells company intelligence columns for outbound. Each actor takes a
list of domains or company identifiers and returns one flat, stably-named row per input —
firmographics, registry IDs, tech stack, email route, hiring activity — the shape a Clay table, an
n8n workflow, or an AI agent can consume without post-processing. Pricing is pay-per-event and
per-domain: a few tenths of a cent for a row that was actually found, and nothing for a
miss, so a list that doesn't enrich costs you next to nothing. Where an official source exists —
VIES, GLEIF, SEC EDGAR, Brønnøysund, PRH, RDAP — it is queried directly instead of scraped. No
seat licence, no monthly minimum, no credit system to decode. For VAT numbers specifically, VIES
is the ledger every VAT-registered EU business already reports into, so this actor mirrors that
ledger exactly instead of approximating it from a third-party database.

### Why this one

- **Queries VIES directly**, the same system tax authorities and accounting software rely on —
  not a third-party VAT database and not a cached copy.
- **Returns the registered company name and address** for a valid number, not just a yes/no —
  useful for confirming a supplier is who they say they are before a reverse-charge purchase.
- **Generates a real, official VIES audit reference** when you add your own VAT number — the
  specific evidence some tax authorities expect to see before a zero-rated B2B invoice.
- **Explains gaps instead of hiding them.** Germany and Spain's own VIES registries never return
  a name or address, valid number or not — `countryDataNote` says so on the row instead of
  leaving you to guess whether the lookup failed.
- **Never charges for a miss.** An invalid, malformed, or unrecognized VAT number costs nothing —
  only a genuinely valid, found result is billed.

### What you get

In the default "full" mode, every row carries these fields:

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `query` | string | The VAT number exactly as you submitted it |
| `found` | boolean | `true` when VIES returned a currently-valid record for this number |
| `status` | string | `OK` for a found row; `BAD_FORMAT` or `NOT_FOUND` on a miss |
| `message` | string | Human-readable reason for a miss (present only when `found` is `false`) |
| `isValid` | boolean | VIES's own valid/invalid verdict for this number |
| `countryCode` | string | 2-letter VIES country prefix (`EL` for Greece, `XI` for Northern Ireland) |
| `countryName` | string | Full country name for `countryCode` |
| `vatNumber` | string | The VAT number in the format VIES itself returns, prefix stripped |
| `name` | string or null | Registered company legal name (empty for Germany and Spain — see `countryDataNote`) |
| `address` | string or null | Registered company address exactly as VIES returns it, unmodified |
| `countryDataNote` | string or null | Explains why `name`/`address` are empty, when they are |
| `requestDate` | date (ISO 8601) | VIES's own timestamp for when it checked the number |
| `auditReference` | string or null | Official VIES consultation number — only populated when you supply `requesterVatNumber` |
| `scrapedAt` | date (ISO 8601) | When this actor made the request |

Switch the mode to "Just tell me if it's valid" and a row is trimmed to `query`, `found`,
`status`, `vatNumber`, `countryCode`, `countryName`, `isValid`, and `scrapedAt` — no name,
address, or audit lookup, same low price.

### Which countries are covered

Every VIES-recognized prefix is accepted: all 27 EU member states, plus `XI` for Northern Ireland
under the EU's Windsor Framework arrangements — 28 codes in total. Greece uses `EL`, not `GR`;
everything else follows the ISO country code you'd expect (`DE`, `FR`, `IE`, `NL`, `ES`, and so
on). A prefix outside this list — a UK `GB` number after Brexit, for instance, or a non-EU
country code — comes back as a free `BAD_FORMAT` miss rather than a silent failure, so you can
tell at a glance which rows in a mixed list were never going to resolve.

Two of those 28 — **Germany and Spain** — are a special case worth knowing up front: their VIES
registries confirm validity but never return a company name or address, for any number, valid or
not. That's documented, structural VIES behavior on their end, not something this actor can work
around. When it happens, `countryDataNote` says so explicitly on the row, so a blank `name` field
reads as "Germany doesn't publish this" instead of "the lookup might have failed."

### Price

$4 per 1,000 VAT numbers, plus a $0.005 start fee. Misses (`found:false`) are never charged.

That's $0.004 per validated number on the FREE plan, dropping to $0.0024 on GOLD — you only pay
for numbers VIES actually confirms as valid; a typo, a deregistered number, or a format VIES
doesn't recognize is a free row. Run 1,000 VAT numbers through this actor and, if every single one
validates, you're looking at roughly **$4** total — less if some of them don't. Run the same 1,000
rows through a credit-based enrichment platform instead and you're typically paying **$80–$400**
for the privilege of it being one column among many.

### How to use

1. **In the Apify Console.** Open the actor page and click **Start** — the `vatNumbers` field is already pre-filled with a working example. Results land in the run's dataset as soon as each item is found.
2. **Via the API.** Call it directly with a POST request — no Console needed once you have an API token:
   ```bash
   curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~eu-vat-validator/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
     -X POST \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"vatNumbers":["IE6388047V","FR40303265045"]}'
   ```
3. **On a schedule.** Save this actor as an Apify **Task** with the input you want, then add a **Schedule** (hourly, daily, weekly) so it runs on its own — no server of your own required.

1) Open the Input tab and paste your VAT numbers into the list box, one per line, country code
   attached (`IE6388047V`, `FR 40 303 265 045`, `NL004495445B01` — spaces and dashes are fine).
   Apify's "Bulk edit" button also accepts pasting a whole spreadsheet column at once.
2) Leave mode on "Valid + company name and address" unless you only need a boolean, in which case
   switch to "Just tell me if it's valid."
3) Optionally open "📋 Audit trail (optional)" and add your own VAT number — every row in that run
   then gets a real VIES consultation number in `auditReference`.
4) Run the actor. Turn on "Hide rows with no result" first if you only want to see the hits in the
   dataset.
5) Pull results from the Dataset tab, or via the API for a script, workflow tool, or agent (see
   below).

#### Other input options

A few advanced fields sit lower on the Input tab, off by default, for when you need them:

- **`testRun`** — caps the run at the first 5 VAT numbers so you can sanity-check the output
  before committing a full list. Turn it off to process everything.
- **`columns`** — pick exactly which output fields you want back, if you don't need all of them
  (for example, just `vatNumber`, `isValid`, `name`). Leave it blank for the full field set above.
- **`onlyFound`** — same as "Hide rows with no result" in the Input tab UI; drops miss rows from
  the dataset entirely instead of recording them with `found: false`.
- **`maxResults`** — stops the run once this many rows have been written, useful for capping spend
  on a very large list without turning on `testRun`.
- **`maxConcurrency`** — how many VAT numbers are checked in parallel; the default of 5 is
  reasonable for VIES's own rate limits, and raising it aggressively is more likely to trigger
  retries than to finish faster.
- **`proxyConfiguration`** — Apify Proxy is used by default; override it here if you have your own
  proxy group, though VIES doesn't require one.

### Input

```json
{
  "vatNumbers": [
    "IE6388047V",
    "FR40303265045"
  ]
}
```

One VAT number per line, with the 2-letter country code in front. Accepted formats: IE6388047V, FR 40 303 265 045, NL004495445B01, spaces and dashes are fine.

### Sample output

| query | found | status | isValid | countryCode | countryName | vatNumber | name | address | countryDataNote | requestDate | auditReference | scrapedAt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| IE6388047V | true | OK | true | IE | Ireland | 6388047V | GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED | 3RD FLOOR, GORDON HOUSE, BARROW STREET, DUBLIN 4 |  | 2026-08-23T06:00:52.436Z |  | 2026-08-23T06:00:53.094Z |

An invalid, malformed, or unrecognized VAT number gets a row with `found: false` and a `status` /
`message` explaining why (`BAD_FORMAT` for a typo, `NOT_FOUND` for a number VIES doesn't
recognize) — and is never charged.

### Use it from Clay, n8n, Make, or an AI agent

This actor runs synchronously over plain HTTP — call it directly from a script, a workflow tool, or an AI agent, no Apify Console needed once you have an API token.

```bash
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~eu-vat-validator/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"vatNumbers":["IE6388047V","FR40303265045"]}'
```

**n8n.** Add an HTTP Request node: Method `POST`, URL `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~eu-vat-validator/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>`, Body Content Type `JSON`, JSON Body `{"vatNumbers":["IE6388047V","FR40303265045"]}` (swap in an expression from an earlier node for a real value).

**Clay.** Add an "HTTP API" column: Method `POST`, URL `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~eu-vat-validator/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>`, Body `{"vatNumbers":["{{VAT number}}"]}`, mapping the row's VAT number into the `vatNumbers` array.

**MCP.** In Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client with the Apify MCP server, ask for "EU VAT Number Validator — Bulk VIES Check API" — the agent will find and run this actor.

### Tips

- Turn on "Hide rows with no result" if you only want the hits in your dataset — misses are free
  either way, this just keeps the output shorter.
- Add your own VAT number under "Audit trail" once per run and every row gets a real VIES
  consultation number — worth doing ahead of invoicing season rather than re-running per invoice.
- VIES is free and unauthenticated, but it rate-limits repeated hits and occasionally has
  downtime of its own; the actor retries automatically, but a very large single run may take
  longer than usual if VIES itself is slow that day.
- Use "Just tell me if it's valid" mode when a boolean is all you need — same low price, fewer
  columns to map downstream.
- Re-run periodically for customers you invoice repeatedly. A VAT number valid last quarter can be
  deregistered by the time you invoice again — this queries VIES fresh on every run, never a
  cached answer.

### vs. alternatives

| | What it costs | What you get | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| **This actor** (`eu-vat-validator`) | $0.004 per validated VAT number (less on paid tiers), $0.005 actor start, nothing for a miss | One row per VAT number — valid/invalid, registered company name and address, and an optional official VIES audit reference | Germany and Spain's own VIES registries never return a name or address, valid number or not — this actor can't fetch what VIES won't send, it just tells you why the field is empty. |
| **VIES directly** | Free | The same data, from the same source | It's the same source — this actor exists for the batch: hundreds of VAT numbers in, one row out per number, VIES's own rate limits and occasional downtime handled with retries, in a format your table already reads. One number, once? Use the portal. |
| **Clay** | $0.08–$0.40 per enriched row in credits, on top of a seat | A whole enrichment workspace — waterfalls across dozens of providers, plus the table and the sequencing around it | If you want one place that does everything and you're not counting rows, that's Clay. This is one column, priced per column, callable *from* Clay via its HTTP step. |
| Doing it yourself | Your time + VIES's per-number rate limits, occasional downtime, and 27 states' worth of slightly different response shapes | The same data | The retry logic, the country-code handling, and the batching this actor already does |

Prices for third-party tools are their published list prices as of August 2026 and are not tracked
here — check the vendor before relying on the comparison.

### FAQ

**Why is a row empty / why does `found` say false?**
Either the format doesn't look like a VAT number (`status: BAD_FORMAT`), or VIES doesn't currently
recognize that number as valid (`status: NOT_FOUND`). Neither case is charged.

**Can I get just a yes/no without the company name and address?**
Yes — set "What do you need back?" to "Just tell me if it's valid" in the Input tab.

**What is `auditReference`?**
An official VIES consultation number, only generated when you supply your own VAT number in the
"Audit trail" section. It's the EU's own audit evidence, not something generated locally.

**Is the data live, or cached from a previous run?**
Live. Every VAT number is checked against VIES at the moment the run executes — nothing is stored
or reused between runs.

**Does VIES ever rate-limit or go down, and what happens then?**
Yes, occasionally — it's a free, unauthenticated EU government service, not a commercial API with
an uptime guarantee. The actor retries automatically on a failed request; a row that still fails
after retries comes back as a free `REQUEST_FAILED` miss rather than a charge.

**Do I need to configure a proxy?**
No — Apify Proxy is used by default. You can supply your own proxy configuration in the Input tab
if you have one, but it isn't required for VIES.

**Is checking a VAT number a GDPR issue?**
No — a VAT number and the registered company name/address behind it are public B2B business
registry data, not personal data about an individual. VIES publishes this information itself for
exactly this purpose.

**Can I schedule this to run automatically, or call it from an AI agent?**
Yes to both. Use Apify's built-in Schedules (cron-based) to re-check a customer list on a
recurring basis, or call the actor directly over the API — see "Use it from Clay, n8n, Make, or an
AI agent" above, including MCP for agent clients.

**Can I limit which fields come back, or cap how many rows I pay for?**
Yes — set `columns` in the Input tab to just the fields you want (see "What you get" above), and
set `maxResults` to stop the run after a fixed number of rows. Both are optional; leave them blank
for the full field set with no cap.

**What does "Try it first" do?**
It's the `testRun` input — it processes only the first 5 VAT numbers in your list so you can check
the output shape before running (and paying for) the whole thing. Turn it off for the full run.

**Does this work for VAT numbers outside the EU, like a UK GB number?**
No — VIES only covers the 27 EU member states plus Northern Ireland (`XI`). A prefix it doesn't
recognize comes back as a free `BAD_FORMAT` miss rather than a guess.

### Related actors

- [Company Registry Unified Lookup](https://apify.com/accountable_eel/company-registry-unified-lookup)
- [GLEIF LEI Lookup](https://apify.com/accountable_eel/gleif-lei-lookup)
- [BRREG Company Lookup](https://apify.com/accountable_eel/brreg-company-lookup)

# Actor input Schema

## `vatNumbers` (type: `array`):

One VAT number per line, with the 2-letter country code in front. Accepted formats: IE6388047V, FR 40 303 265 045, NL004495445B01, spaces and dashes are fine. You're only charged for the ones we actually find — a miss costs nothing.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Pick the option that matches what you need — you can leave this on the recommended setting.

## `testRun` (type: `boolean`):

Turn this on to test your input on a small sample before running the full list. Turn it off to process everything.

## `onlyFound` (type: `boolean`):

Only keep rows where something was actually found. Misses are always free, whether or not you show them here.

## `includeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Optional. Only keep results that mention at least one of these words (e.g. a job title, a city, a product name). Leave empty to keep everything.

## `excludeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Optional. Drop any result that mentions one of these words. Leave empty to skip nothing.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Optional. Stop the run once this many results have been found — useful for a quick, cheap sample. Leave blank for no limit.

## `columns` (type: `array`):

Choose which pieces of information to include in each result row. All are included by default.

## `requesterVatNumber` (type: `string`):

Add your own VAT number to get an official VIES audit reference on every row — proof you checked a customer's number before invoicing, which some tax authorities expect to see. Same format as the numbers you're checking, e.g. IE6388047V.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel requests. Keep conservative — this target has no browser fallback, so getting blocked costs more than slow-and-steady.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Apify Proxy config. Residential recommended for anti-bot-sensitive targets.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "vatNumbers": [
    "IE6388047V",
    "FR40303265045"
  ],
  "mode": "full",
  "testRun": false,
  "onlyFound": false,
  "includeKeywords": [],
  "excludeKeywords": [],
  "columns": [
    "isValid",
    "countryCode",
    "countryName",
    "vatNumber",
    "name",
    "address",
    "countryDataNote",
    "requestDate",
    "auditReference"
  ],
  "requesterVatNumber": "",
  "maxConcurrency": 5,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "vatNumbers": [
        "IE6388047V",
        "FR40303265045"
    ],
    "includeKeywords": [],
    "excludeKeywords": []
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("accountable_eel/eu-vat-validator").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "vatNumbers": [
        "IE6388047V",
        "FR40303265045",
    ],
    "includeKeywords": [],
    "excludeKeywords": [],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("accountable_eel/eu-vat-validator").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "vatNumbers": [
    "IE6388047V",
    "FR40303265045"
  ],
  "includeKeywords": [],
  "excludeKeywords": []
}' |
apify call accountable_eel/eu-vat-validator --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,accountable_eel/eu-vat-validator"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/7BauW35YRcnK9mlBj/builds/kc0OS8h9ee20ydRRf/openapi.json