# EU VAT Number Validator — VIES Bulk Check (`gangary/eu-vat-validator`) Actor

Validate EU VAT numbers in bulk against the official European Commission VIES service. Returns validity, registered company name and address for each VAT ID. Essential for B2B invoicing, reverse-charge compliance and cross-border e-commerce in the European Union.

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

## Pricing

from $8.00 / 1,000 per vat checkeds

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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#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](https://empresas-por-cnae.vercel.app/covers/eu-vat-validator.png)

## EU VAT Number Validator — VIES Bulk Check

Validate **EU VAT numbers in bulk** against VIES, the European Commission's official VAT Information Exchange System. For every VAT ID you get back whether it is **valid right now**, plus the **registered company name and address** — the two things you need for reverse-charge invoicing, tax compliance and B2B customer verification.

Paste a list, get a clean dataset. No manual lookups, no captchas, no rate-limit babysitting.

### What you get

Real output example:

```json
{
  "input": "IE6388047V",
  "countryCode": "IE",
  "vatNumber": "6388047V",
  "checked": true,
  "valid": true,
  "companyName": "GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED",
  "companyAddress": "3RD FLOOR, GORDON HOUSE, BARROW STREET, DUBLIN 4",
  "checkedAt": "2026-08-17T01:48:58.067Z",
  "error": null
}
```

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `input` | The VAT ID exactly as you sent it |
| `countryCode` / `vatNumber` | Parsed country prefix and number |
| `checked` | `true` when VIES gave a definitive answer |
| `valid` | Whether the VAT number is currently valid |
| `companyName` / `companyAddress` | Registered business behind the number (when the member state discloses it) |
| `checkedAt` | Official VIES request timestamp — keep it as your compliance proof |
| `error` | Reason when a number couldn't be checked |

Formats are forgiving: `IE 6388047V`, `ie-6388047v` and `IE6388047V` all work. Greek numbers are accepted as both `GR` and `EL`. Northern Ireland (`XI`) is supported.

### How to use it

1. Paste your VAT IDs (one per line) into **VAT numbers**.
2. Run the actor.
3. Export the dataset as CSV/Excel for your accounting team, or consume it via API.

Works great on a schedule — e.g. re-validate your whole customer base monthly, since VAT registrations expire and change.

### Pricing

Pay per event: a small start fee plus a fee per **completed check** (valid *or* invalid — both are definitive answers). Numbers that can't be checked because a member state's service is offline are **not charged**.

| Scenario | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 50 VAT numbers | ~US$ 0.41 |
| 200 VAT numbers | ~US$ 1.61 |
| 1,000 VAT numbers | ~US$ 8.01 |

### FAQ

**Is this the official source?**
Yes — every check hits the European Commission's VIES service directly. This actor adds the bulk handling, parsing, retries and clean output on top.

**Why does a number show `checked: false`?**
Occasionally a member state's database is temporarily offline (`MS_UNAVAILABLE`). Those rows are not charged — re-run them later.

**Can I use the result as proof for reverse-charge invoicing?**
The output includes the official VIES request timestamp (`checkedAt`). Most EU tax authorities accept a VIES check record as evidence of due diligence — confirm specifics with your accountant.

### Honest limitations

- Some member states (e.g. Germany and Spain in many cases) do not disclose company name/address — `valid` still works, but those fields come back `null`.
- VIES enforces fair-use rates; the actor throttles itself, so very large lists take proportionally longer.

### From the same maker

- **[France Company Search — SIREN & SIRET](https://apify.com/gangary/france-company-search)** — full French registry data, including the EU VAT number.
- **[LEI Code Lookup (GLEIF)](https://apify.com/gangary/lei-code-lookup)** — legal entity identifiers for KYC and finance compliance.
- **[SEC EDGAR Filings](https://apify.com/gangary/sec-edgar-filings)** — latest US filings by ticker.
- **[Website Contact Extractor](https://apify.com/gangary/website-contact-extractor)** — emails, phones and socials from any website list.

***

*Keywords: EU VAT validation, VIES bulk check, VAT number checker, validate VAT numbers, reverse charge compliance, VAT API, check VAT number list, B2B VAT verification.*

# Actor input Schema

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

VAT IDs with country prefix, e.g. IE6388047V or DE811128135. Spaces, dots and dashes are ignored.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "vatNumbers": [
    "IE6388047V",
    "DE811128135"
  ]
}
```

# 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",
        "DE811128135"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("gangary/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",
        "DE811128135",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("gangary/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",
    "DE811128135"
  ]
}' |
apify call gangary/eu-vat-validator --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,gangary/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/ImMJWcUandvrWjg4U/builds/Inau9nqVmQeu7jjkn/openapi.json