EU VAT Validator (VIES) Scraper

EU VAT Validator (VIES) Scraper

Validate EU VAT numbers against the official VIES service, one at a time or in bulk. Each result includes the registered company name, address, and validity verdict. No API key, no proxy, no setup. Export to JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML.

The official VIES web form checks one VAT number at a time and is slow to use for onboarding or invoice checks. This Actor queries the European Commission's VIES service directly for every number you provide, in one run, and returns a clean row per number with the registered name, address, and validity verdict. It works for all 27 EU member states plus Northern Ireland (XI).

Who uses it	What they scrape VIES for
Accounts payable teams	Check supplier VAT numbers before paying invoices to support reverse-charge VAT.
E-commerce sellers	Validate customer VAT numbers for B2B sales inside the EU.
Compliance officers	Screen counterparties during onboarding and periodic KYC reviews.
ERP integrators	Feed validated VAT data into master data or invoice automation workflows.

What it does

This Actor validates EU VAT numbers against the official VIES service and returns one flat record per number with the validity verdict and registered company details.

• 🔢 Bulk validation: pass up to 1,000,000 VAT numbers in one run and get one row per number.
• 🌍 All EU states: supports all 27 member states plus Northern Ireland (XI).
• 📋 Registered details: returns the official registered name and address when VIES provides them.
• ✅ Validity verdict: each row includes the VIES validity status and the request date.
• 🔁 Reusable runs: save your VAT list and re-run on a schedule to catch deregistrations.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with VIES data

🧾 Reverse-charge invoicing.

An accounts payable clerk validates each EU supplier's VAT number before booking an invoice, so the reverse-charge treatment is applied only to valid numbers.

🛒 B2B e-commerce checkout.

A Shopify or WooCommerce seller runs the Actor on new EU business customers to confirm their VAT IDs before issuing a zero-rated invoice.

🏢 Supplier onboarding.

A procurement team screens new vendors by validating their VAT numbers and storing the registered name and address in the vendor master.

📅 Periodic compliance reviews.

A compliance officer re-runs the Actor quarterly on the full supplier list to catch deregistered or changed VAT numbers.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Queries the public VIES service directly, no registration or token.
Bulk by design	Validate thousands of numbers in one run instead of one web form at a time.
Official source	Verdicts come from the European Commission's VIES database.
Fixed schema	Every number returns the same flat record, ready for export.

How it compares

This Actor focuses on bulk VIES validation with a simple list input and a flat output schema, while the competitors below add per-answer pricing, compliance alerts, or other workflow features.

Feature	ParseForge	EU VAT Validator - VIES per-answer check	EU VAT Validator (VIES)	EU VAT Validator - Compliance Monitoring & Alerts
Bulk validation in one run	Yes	Not listed	Yes	Yes
Returns registered company name	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not listed
Returns registered address	Yes	Not listed	Yes	Not listed
No API key required	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not listed
Supports all 27 EU states + XI	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Yes
Compliance alerts and SLA escalation	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Yes

Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a list of VAT numbers with country prefixes, and set a maximum number of records to collect per run. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
 "maxItems": 10,
 "vatNumbers": [
 "IT00159560366",
 "DE811109517",
 "FR12345678901"
 ]
}

A larger pull:

{
 "maxItems": 200,
 "vatNumbers": [
 "IT00159560366",
 "DE811109517",
 "FR12345678901"
 ]
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.0055 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.55
1,000 results	$5.50
10,000 results	$55.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the EU VAT Validator (VIES) Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to VIES through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/vies-eu-vat-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check that your VAT numbers include the two-letter country prefix, for example IT00159560366. Also confirm that maxItems is set to at least 1.

Why does a valid VAT number show as invalid?

VIES can be temporarily unavailable or the number may be newly registered. Re-run the Actor after a short wait. If the issue persists, verify the number on the official VIES web form.

Why is the registered name or address empty?

Some member states do not return the registered name or address through VIES. The validity verdict is still returned.

Can I validate a UK VAT number?

UK VAT numbers are no longer in VIES. For Northern Ireland, use the XI prefix. For Great Britain, use HMRC's own service.

The run is slow with many numbers.

VIES rate-limits requests. The Actor processes numbers sequentially to stay within limits. Split very large lists into multiple runs if needed.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Which countries does this Actor support?	It supports all 27 EU member states plus Northern Ireland (XI). Use the two-letter country code prefix for each number.
Do I need a VIES API key?	No. The Actor queries the public VIES service directly, so there is no key, registration, or token to manage.
What does the output look like?	Each input VAT number becomes one flat record with the validity verdict, the registered company name and address when VIES returns them, and the request date.
Can I validate numbers in bulk?	Yes. Provide a list of VAT numbers in the input and set maxItems to the number of records you want. The Actor processes them in one run.
What happens if a VAT number is invalid?	The record for that number will show the VIES verdict as invalid, and the registered name and address fields will be empty.
Does it work for Northern Ireland?	Yes. Use the XI prefix for Northern Ireland VAT numbers, which VIES treats separately from GB.
How often should I re-validate VAT numbers?	For compliance, many teams re-validate quarterly or before each invoice run. You can schedule the Actor to run on a recurring basis.
Can I export the results?	Yes. The dataset can be exported to JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML from the Apify platform.
Is there a limit on how many numbers I can check?	The input accepts up to 1,000,000 VAT numbers per run. Set maxItems to control how many records are collected.
What is the difference between this and the official VIES web form?	The web form checks one number at a time. This Actor automates the same check for a list of numbers and returns structured data.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by European Commission. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.