# EU VAT Number Validator (VIES) with Company Name (`dodge_bot/eu-vat-validator`) Actor

Check EU VAT numbers in bulk against VIES, the European Commission's official system: valid or not, plus the registered company name and address where the country publishes them. Format check for all 27 EU countries and Northern Ireland (XI). Retries busy national systems.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/dodge_bot/eu-vat-validator.md
- **Developed by:** [Dodge Sucharda](https://apify.com/dodge_bot) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, E-commerce
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## EU VAT Number Validator (VIES) with Company Name

Check EU VAT numbers in bulk against VIES, the European Commission's official VAT Information Exchange System. For each number you get whether it is valid for intra-EU trade and, where the member state publishes them, the registered company name and address. Every number also gets a format check first, so typos are caught instantly.

**$2 per 1,000 numbers checked.** Invalid and badly formatted numbers count (that's the answer you need); numbers VIES can't answer because a national system is down are free.

### Good for

- **E-commerce and SaaS billing**: confirm a customer's VAT number before applying the reverse charge
- **Accounting and finance teams**: clean supplier and customer master data
- **KYB checks**: confirm a company's registered name and address

### Output (one row per number)

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `valid` | true if VIES confirms the number is active for intra-EU trade |
| `fullVatNumber`, `country`, `vatNumber` | The normalised number (Greece uses the prefix EL) |
| `companyName`, `companyAddress` | As registered, when the country shares them (Germany and Spain, for example, do not) |
| `reason` | Why a number is not valid: wrong format, not registered, UK number, missing prefix |
| `viesRequestDate` | Date of the VIES check |
| `status` | `ok`, or `vies_unavailable` (free) when the national system didn't answer after retries |

### Input

- **VAT numbers**: with country prefix. Spaces, dots and dashes are removed for you.
- **Default country**: optional, for numbers without a prefix.

### Notes and limits

- VIES only covers the 27 EU member states and Northern Ireland (`XI`). UK (`GB`) numbers have not been in VIES since Brexit; they're flagged as such and not sent to VIES.
- National systems behind VIES sometimes go offline or throttle (`MS_UNAVAILABLE`, `MS_MAX_CONCURRENT_REQ`). The tool retries with pauses, and only reports `vies_unavailable` (free) if the country still doesn't answer.
- A valid VIES result means the number is registered for intra-EU transactions; it is not a full tax-compliance check.

# Actor input Schema

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

VAT numbers with their country prefix (DE123456789, FR..., NL...B01). Spaces, dots and dashes are fine. Up to 20,000 per run.

## `defaultCountry` (type: `string`):

Two-letter code used for numbers without a prefix (optional), for example DE.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "vatNumbers": [
    "IE6388047V",
    "DE811569869"
  ]
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

No description

## `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",
        "DE811569869"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("dodge_bot/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",
        "DE811569869",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("dodge_bot/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",
    "DE811569869"
  ]
}' |
apify call dodge_bot/eu-vat-validator --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,dodge_bot/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/dFxy70u7Li9Cqcg4y/builds/HFGf4cBpWw6yeeuHo/openapi.json