EU VAT Number Validator & VIES Compliance Check API

What is the EU VAT Number Validator? An Apify API that checks EU VAT numbers against the official European Commission VIES system — the same database tax authorities and EU institutions use. Give it a VAT number (or a list), and it returns valid true/false plus the registered trader name and address, straight from the official EC endpoint. No login, no scraping, no third-party databases.

Built for B2B compliance workflows: vendor KYB (know-your-business) checks, invoice verification before payment, and ongoing deregistration monitoring — detect when a supplier's VAT number stops being valid before your next invoice is rejected.

What can this Actor do?

• ✅ Validate VAT numbers for all 27 EU member states plus Northern Ireland (XI) against the official VIES database
• ✅ Return trader details — registered company name, street, postal code, city, and company type
• ✅ Monitor for changes — re-run on a schedule and get a statusChanged: true flag (plus previous values) when a number flips valid↔invalid or the registered details change
• ✅ Cache lookups — server-side cache with a configurable TTL (default 24h) so repeated checks of the same number are cheaper and lighter on the EU service
• ✅ Concurrency control — set 1–5 parallel requests to stay polite to the official EC service

Field	What it contains
countryCode	2-letter EU country prefix (DE, FR, IE, …)
vatNumber	Normalized full VAT number
valid	true / false from the official VIES database
name, address	Registered trader name and address
traderCity, traderCompanyType	Registered city and company type
source	fresh (VIES lookup), cache (within TTL), or soap (fallback)
statusChanged	true when monitor mode detected a change vs. the previous run
previousValid	Previous validity status (monitor mode)
cachedAt	When the cached result was first stored (cache hits)
status / reason	ok, or error + the reason (malformed numbers, unsupported country, VIES unreachable)

Why use the official VIES API?

The European Commission's VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) is the authoritative source for EU VAT registration status. This Actor calls the official EC REST API (with a SOAP fallback) — the same data source national tax authorities use. There is no login wall, no API key to manage, and the data comes from the EU's own public service, not a reseller or scraper.

When to check EU VAT numbers

• Vendor onboarding (KYB) — confirm a new supplier's VAT registration before they enter your payables system
• Invoice verification — check the seller's VAT number on every incoming invoice before payment
• Deregistration monitoring — scheduled re-checks that flag the moment a counterparty's VAT number stops being valid or their registered details change
• One-off due diligence — a quick valid true/false before a contract or a cross-border transaction

How to validate EU VAT numbers with the VIES API

1. Open the Actor page and click Try for free (or Start in Console).
2. In the input, paste the VAT numbers you want to check — each with its 2-letter country prefix:

   {
     "vatNumbers": ["IE8256796U", "DE123456789", "FR12345678901"]
   }
   

   Spaces, dots and dashes are ignored: IE 8256796U works the same as IE8256796U.
3. Run it. Each number becomes one dataset row with valid, trader name, and address.
4. Export results as JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML, or fetch them over the API tab (REST endpoint with your API token).

How to monitor VAT numbers for deregistration

1. Set monitorChanges: true in the input.
2. Schedule the Actor to run daily (or weekly) via the Scheduling tab — no code needed.
3. Each run compares fresh VIES results against the stored snapshot. If a supplier's number flips from valid to invalid — or their registered name/address changes — the dataset row carries statusChanged: true with the previous values.
4. Point a webhook, Make, or n8n at the run to alert your team the moment a counterparty's VAT status changes.

Pricing — pay per event

This Actor uses Apify's pay-per-event model — you only pay for what you use, no monthly subscription:

Event	Price
actor-start (per run)	$0.005
vat-validated (per fresh VIES lookup)	$0.004
vat-cache-hit (per cached lookup within TTL)	$0.001
vat-status-changed (monitor mode, per detected change)	$0.02

Worked example: checking 10 supplier VAT numbers on a fresh run costs $0.005 + 10 × $0.004 = $0.045. Re-running the same 10 within the cache TTL costs $0.005 + 10 × $0.001 = $0.015. A weekly monitor of 50 vendors that detects one deregistration costs $0.005 + 50 × $0.004 + $0.02 = $0.225.

Apify's free plan includes platform credits — most first runs are free. Full pricing details on the Pricing tab.

Input

Field	Type	Default	Description
vatNumbers	array of strings	required	Full VAT numbers with 2-letter country prefix, e.g. ["IE8256796U", "DE123456789"]
monitorChanges	boolean	false	Store snapshots and flag statusChanged when validity or trader details change between runs
cacheTtlHours	integer	24	How long to serve repeat lookups from cache. 0 = always fresh. Monitor mode always looks up fresh.
maxConcurrency	integer	2	Max parallel VIES requests (1–5). Keep low to stay polite to the official EC service.

Output — example

{
  "countryCode": "IE",
  "vatNumber": "IE8256796U",
  "valid": true,
  "requestDate": "2026-09-01T09:00:00.000Z",
  "name": "MICROSOFT IRELAND OPERATIONS LIMITED",
  "address": "ONE MICROSOFT PLACE, SOUTH COUNTY BUSINESS PARK, LEOPARDSTOWN, DUBLIN 18",
  "traderCity": "DUBLIN",
  "source": "fresh",
  "statusChanged": false,
  "previousValid": null,
  "status": "ok",
  "timestamp": "2026-09-01T09:00:00.000Z"
}

Invalid or unregistered numbers return valid: false with --- in the trader fields — a deterministic, complete result either way.

Integrations

• API — call this Actor from any REST client via the API tab (https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/gp005~vat-vies-validator/runs). Perfect for scripting into invoicing or ERP flows.
• MCP — like all Apify Actors, it's callable from AI agents via the Apify MCP server.
• Webhooks — subscribe to run events to trigger downstream alerting.
• Make / n8n / Zapier — Apify's HTTP API integrates with every major automation platform.
• Scheduling — run daily/weekly on the platform with zero infrastructure.

Other useful Actors from the same developer

• SSL/TLS Certificate Expiry Monitor — the same monitor-on-a-schedule pattern for TLS certificates
• EDGAR Company Filings & XBRL Fundamentals Extractor — company financial fundamentals from SEC filings
• Sanctions Screening API — GLEIF LEI & OFAC/EU/UN/UK Checker — counterparty screening against GLEIF LEI and the major sanctions lists
• Office-to-PDF & Universal Document Converter — convert Word/Excel/PPT to PDF in one run

FAQ

Is VIES data up to date?

VIES is maintained in near-real-time by EU member states' tax authorities. There is a small lag between a registration/deregistration being processed nationally and appearing in VIES — treat a result as current, but confirm with the national authority for legally binding decisions.

What happens if the VAT number format is wrong?

The Actor validates the format and country code up front. Malformed numbers are skipped with a structured error row (status: "error" + reason) — you never pay for a VIES lookup that can't be done.

Does this cover UK (GB) VAT numbers?

No — the UK left VIES after Brexit. Only EU member states plus Northern Ireland (XI) are supported. Non-EU numbers return an error row explaining the unsupported country code.

What is the trader name/address used for?

The registered name and address are the official trader details returned per-query by VIES — exactly what you need for KYB checks and invoice matching. They are returned per lookup, not collected into any index.

Is the VIES API free?

The European Commission's VIES service itself is free and public — there is no EC API key or subscription. This Actor charges per event because it turns that raw service into a repeatable API: caching, concurrency control, monitoring snapshots, structured JSON output, and no-rate-limit handling — so you pay for the run, not for VIES access.

Can I look up a VAT number by company name?

No. VIES only accepts a full VAT number (country prefix + digits) — there is no reverse lookup by company name. This Actor returns the registered company name and address for a given VAT number, which is exactly what invoice-matching and KYB checks need.

Why did my validation fail with invalid_input?

The Actor validates the format and country code before any VIES call. A malformed number (wrong length, bad check digits, unsupported country) is skipped and returned as a structured error row (status: "error" + reason) — you are never charged a validation event for a lookup that couldn't be performed.

What happens when VIES is down?

The Actor falls back to the official SOAP endpoint when the REST API fails. If both endpoints are unreachable, each number returns a structured error row and no validation event is charged — no silent failures, no false valid: false results.

Is this a legal confirmation service?

No. The Actor is a preflight verification tool using the official VIES database. For legally binding decisions, confirm with the relevant national tax authority.

Limitations

• VIES coverage — only EU member states plus Northern Ireland (XI) are supported. The UK (GB) is not in VIES since Brexit; GB numbers return a structured error row.
• Freshness — VIES reflects what member states' tax authorities have registered; there is a short national-processing lag before a deregistration appears.
• Trader details — VIES returns the registered name/address only when the member state provides them; some return --- placeholders even for valid numbers.
• Official-service dependency — the Actor calls the EU's public VIES service and honors its fair-use guidance (concurrency limited to 1–5, server-side cache). Under EC outages, the SOAP fallback is used; if both endpoints fail, structured error rows are returned and no validation event is charged.
• Not legal advice — output is for preflight compliance workflows, not a certification or legal opinion.

I have a custom use case

Open the Issues tab — feedback is welcome, and custom solutions are available.

Support

• Found a bug or want a feature? Open an issue on the Issues tab.
• Questions about billing or platform features → Apify's docs and support.