EU VAT Number Validator (VIES)

EU VAT Number Validator (VIES) bulk-checks EU and Northern Ireland (XI) VAT numbers against the European Commission's official VIES service, returning valid status, trader name and address, and retrying automatically when a member-state service is down.

Best for: B2B invoicing and reverse-charge checks, e-commerce sellers, supplier onboarding and KYB teams.

How to check EU VAT numbers in VIES

1. Add VAT numbers with their country prefix to VAT numbers (e.g. IE6388047V).
2. Optionally raise Retries when VIES is unavailable.
3. Click Start and filter on valid and status.

How it works

Calls the European Commission's public VIES REST API. UK (GB) VAT numbers are not in VIES since Brexit; Northern Ireland traders use the XI prefix. Some countries (e.g. DE) do not return the name/address.

Output

input, countryCode, vatNumber, valid, status, name, address, requestDate

Pricing (pay-per-event)

• vat-checked: $0.002 per result ($2 / 1,000). Platform usage is included; you pay only for results.
• Example: 10,000 VAT numbers cost $20.00.

Example input

{
  "vatNumbers": [
    "IE6388047V",
    "FR40303265045",
    "XI123456789"
  ]
}

Example output

Values below are illustrative.

{
  "input": "IE6388047V",
  "countryCode": "IE",
  "vatNumber": "6388047V",
  "valid": true,
  "status": "valid",
  "name": "GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED",
  "address": "3RD FLOOR, GORDON HOUSE, BARROW STREET, DUBLIN 4",
  "requestDate": "2026-10-12"
}

Use it via API, schedules and integrations

Run it in Apify Console, or call it from your own code with the Apify API or the Python and JavaScript clients. Save an input as a task and add a schedule to run it regularly, and send results to Slack, email, webhooks, Zapier, Make or n8n with Apify integrations. AI agents can find and run it through the Apify MCP server.

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("sterlingverify/eu-vat-vies-validator").call(run_input={"vatNumbers": ["IE6388047V"]})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

Use in Clay, Zapier, Make, n8n, Pipedream, Power Automate or Activepieces

All of them connect to Apify through their official Apify integrations, using your own Apify account: an API token from Apify Console > Settings > API & Integrations, or Apify sign-in for Power Automate. Runs bill to your Apify account at this Actor's pay-per-event price.

• Clay: save this Actor's input as an Apify task and copy it as JSON. In your Clay table, add the Run Apify Actor enrichment, choose it and paste the JSON into Input Data, mapping Clay columns into the fields. To pull a finished run into a new table, use the Import data from Apify Actor source.
• Zapier: use the Apify Run Actor action, or the Finished Actor run trigger followed by Fetch dataset items. Synchronous runs in Zapier stop after 30 seconds, so use the trigger for big batches.
• Make: add the Apify Run an Actor module with Run synchronously set to Yes, then Get Dataset Items with the run's dataset ID. For longer runs, use the Watch Actor Runs trigger.
• n8n: install the Apify node (@apify/n8n-nodes-apify, or search "Apify" on n8n Cloud) and use Run an Actor and get dataset.
• Pipedream: add the Apify app's Run Actor action, or Run Task Synchronously on one of this Actor's public example tasks (or your own saved task) to get the dataset items back in one step. For big batches, start from the New Finished Actor Run or New Finished Task Run trigger, then Get Dataset Items.
• Power Automate: add the Apify connector (a premium connector, currently in preview) and sign in with your Apify account. Use Run Actor with Enter custom value set to sterlingverify/eu-vat-vies-validator and paste the input as JSON, then Get dataset items with the run's default dataset ID. For big batches, start the flow from the Actor run finished trigger instead.
• Activepieces: add the Apify piece and use Run Actor, or Run Task on one of this Actor's public example tasks (or your own saved task), then Get Dataset Items. For scheduled or big batches, use the Watch Actor Runs or Watch Task Runs trigger.
• Google Drive / Sheets: add Apify's Upload results to GDrive integration to a scheduled task to drop each run's CSV or XLSX into your team's Drive, or chain the Google Sheets Import & Export actor to append rows to a sheet.
• Slack alerts: add Apify's Slack integration to a scheduled task to post each run's results to your team channel, or start a check from Slack with /apify call and your task ID.
• Any HTTP tool or script: send one request and get the results back as JSON. Runs must finish within 5 minutes.

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/sterlingverify~eu-vat-vies-validator/run-sync-get-dataset-items" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d @input.json

FAQ

Can it check UK (GB) VAT numbers?

No. GB VAT numbers have not been in VIES since Brexit. Northern Ireland traders use the XI prefix, which is supported. For GB numbers, UK Company Check can validate VAT with an HMRC token.

Why is the name or address missing for some countries?

Some member states (e.g. Germany) do not return them through VIES.

Disclaimer

Data from the European Commission VIES service. Not affiliated with the European Commission. VIES results are informational; the EC states that the service cannot be used as a legal basis on its own. Not legal or tax advice.

Related sterlingVerify tools

Part of the sterlingVerify UK payments, KYB and data toolkit on Apify Store:

• UK Company Check: Companies House, VAT and UK sanctions KYB check in one call
• IBAN Validator: offline bulk IBAN validation and parsing
• UK Sanctions Screener: fuzzy screening against the UK Sanctions List (FCDO)
• UK Director Search: every Companies House appointment for a director