# EU VAT Number Validator (VIES): Bulk Check, Name & Address (`swillz/eu-vat-validator`) Actor

Bulk-validate EU VAT numbers against the official EU VIES service: valid/invalid, registered name and address, consultation number for audit proof and name match. Forgiving input, free format pre-check, retries for busy member states. Outages and bad formats free. From $1.10 per 1k.

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

## Pricing

from $1.10 / 1,000 vat number checkeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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): Bulk Check, Name & Address

Check thousands of EU VAT numbers against the European Commission's official **VIES** service. For each number you get valid or invalid, the registered company name and address, and an optional **VIES consultation number** that you can keep as audit proof. If you supply names, you also get a **name match** against your own records.

Built for finance, accounts-payable, e-commerce and marketplace teams that need to apply the EU reverse charge, onboard B2B customers or clean a supplier list.

### What can EU VAT Number Validator do?

- **Bulk validation in one run.** Paste numbers or chain from another Actor's dataset. Duplicates are checked once.
- **Forgiving input.** `de 811.128.135`, `VAT No: FR40303265045`, `GR…` (converted to `EL`) and numbers without a prefix (with `defaultCountry`) all work.
- **Free local format check.** Numbers that can't be valid are caught before they reach VIES and returned as free `invalid_format` rows.
- **Handles VIES outages.** National databases go offline for maintenance and reject request bursts. The Actor limits requests per country, retries with backoff, and returns free `service_unavailable` rows instead of failing.
- **Audit proof.** Set `requesterVatNumber` to your own EU VAT number and VIES issues a consultation number for each check.
- **Name match.** Add ` | Expected name` to a number, or set `nameField` for a dataset, to get `exact`, `close`, `partial` or `mismatch`.

### What data does it return?

| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| `vatId`, `status`, `valid` | `IE6388047V`, `valid`, `true` |
| `name`, `address`, `addressLines` | `GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED`, `3RD FLOOR, GORDON HOUSE, BARROW STREET, DUBLIN 4` |
| `countryCode`, `countryName`, `vatNumber` | `IE`, `Ireland`, `6388047V` |
| `expectedName`, `nameMatch` | `Google Ireland`, `exact` |
| `consultationNumber`, `requestDate` | `WAPI…`, `2026-10-24T02:27:55Z` |

**Statuses:**

- Charged: `valid`, and `invalid` (not registered for intra-EU trade).
- Free: `invalid_format`, `unsupported_country` (for example GB or CH), `service_unavailable`, `invalid_input`, `error` and `skipped_charge_limit`.

Some countries, Germany and Spain among them, never return a name or address through VIES. In that case `name` is `null` and `nameMatch` is `not_available`.

### How much does it cost?

You pay only for numbers that VIES actually answered (`valid` or `invalid`):

| Plan | Per 1,000 numbers |
|---|---|
| Free | $2.00 |
| Bronze | $1.70 |
| Silver | $1.40 |
| Gold | $1.10 |

Format errors, non-EU numbers and VIES outages are **free**. There is also a tiny Apify start fee of $0.00005 per run.

### Input example

```json
{
  "vatNumbers": ["IE6388047V | Google Ireland", "BE0403448140", "DE 811 128 135"],
  "requesterVatNumber": ""
}
```

### Output example

```json
{"vatId": "IE6388047V", "status": "valid", "valid": true, "name": "GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED",
 "address": "3RD FLOOR, GORDON HOUSE, BARROW STREET, DUBLIN 4", "countryCode": "IE",
 "expectedName": "Google Ireland", "nameMatch": "exact", "consultationNumber": null, "source": "EU VIES"}
```

```json
{"vatId": "DE12", "status": "invalid_format", "valid": false, "error": "Wrong format for Germany (DE). Not sent to VIES."}
```

### Use cases

- **Reverse charge and invoicing:** confirm a B2B customer's VAT number before you zero-rate an invoice.
- **Supplier and customer onboarding:** validate a whole vendor master or CRM export, and flag name mismatches.
- **Marketplaces:** check seller VAT IDs in bulk.
- **Periodic re-checks:** schedule the Actor monthly so you know when a customer's number stops being valid.

### Use with AI agents (MCP, ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, n8n)

AI agents can run this Actor through the [Apify MCP server](https://mcp.apify.com):

```json
{"mcpServers":{"apify":{"url":"https://mcp.apify.com?tools=swillz/eu-vat-validator"}}}
```

Or run it locally with `npx -y @apify/actors-mcp-server --tools swillz/eu-vat-validator` and `APIFY_TOKEN` set.

Example prompts:

- "Is IE6388047V a valid EU VAT number, and who is it registered to?"
- "Validate the VAT numbers in this supplier list and flag the ones whose name doesn't match."

Minimal input: `{"vatNumbers": ["IE6388047V"]}`. To cap the cost, pass `maxTotalChargeUsd`. Numbers left unchecked come back as free `skipped_charge_limit` rows.

### Integrations and API

Run it from the Apify API, the clients, Make, Zapier or n8n. To chain it, pass `{"datasetId": "...", "vatField": "vat"}`. The OUTPUT record holds a run summary (`byStatus`, `memberStatesUnavailable`, `zeroResultsReason`, `nextSteps`).

### FAQ

**Is this the official source?** Yes. Every answer comes live from the European Commission's VIES REST service. Nothing is cached.

**What about UK VAT numbers?** Since Brexit, GB numbers are not in VIES. They return `unsupported_country` (free). Northern Ireland `XI` numbers are supported.

**Why is a number `service_unavailable`?** The member state's database was offline or busy. Run it again later. Those rows are free.

### Related tools

More tools from the same developer, built to work together:

- [Career Site Jobs Scraper](https://apify.com/swillz/career-site-jobs-scraper): jobs from Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, Workable and Recruitee boards, with salary fields, as a jobs API or CSV.
- [Workday Jobs Scraper](https://apify.com/swillz/workday-jobs-scraper): every job from any myworkdayjobs.com career site, past the 2,000-result cap.
- [Company Website Enrichment](https://apify.com/swillz/company-website-enrichment): turn a list of domains into company name, emails, phones, social links and tech stack.
- [AI Extract](https://apify.com/swillz/ai-extract): structured JSON from any web page with a plain-English prompt or a JSON schema. AI included.
- [Google Sheets Import & Export](https://apify.com/swillz/google-sheets-import-export): send any Apify dataset to a Google Sheet (append, replace or dedupe) or read a sheet as JSON.
- [XML Sitemap URL Extractor & Sitemap to CSV](https://apify.com/swillz/sitemap-url-extractor): every URL from a website's sitemap, with lastmod, HTTP status and new-page monitoring.
- [AI Brand Visibility Tracker](https://apify.com/swillz/ai-brand-visibility-tracker): track whether ChatGPT mentions, ranks and cites your brand vs competitors (GEO).
- [Email Provider Detector](https://apify.com/swillz/email-provider-detector): bulk check whether domains use Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Proofpoint or Mimecast, plus SPF, DMARC and DKIM.
- [Hiring Signals by Company Domain](https://apify.com/swillz/hiring-signals-by-domain): from a list of company domains, find which ATS each uses and how many open roles, by department and location.
- [EORI Number Validator](https://apify.com/swillz/eori-validator): bulk check EU and UK EORI numbers for customs, with trader name where published.
- [LEI Lookup (GLEIF)](https://apify.com/swillz/lei-lookup): find a company's Legal Entity Identifier, legal name, address, status and parent from official GLEIF data.
- [Sanctions Screener](https://apify.com/swillz/sanctions-screener): screen company and person names against official OFAC, UN, EU and UK sanctions lists with fuzzy matching.

**Popular workflows**

- **B2B customer onboarding (KYB):** validate the VAT number with this Actor and the EORI with [EORI Number Validator](https://apify.com/swillz/eori-validator), confirm the legal entity with [LEI Lookup (GLEIF)](https://apify.com/swillz/lei-lookup), and screen the name with [Sanctions Screener](https://apify.com/swillz/sanctions-screener).

Source code: https://github.com/williamjin02/apify-actors/tree/main/actors/eu-vat-validator

# Actor input Schema

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

Required unless datasetId is set. Array of strings with the country prefix, e.g. \["IE6388047V","DE 811 128 135","IT00743110157"]. Spaces, dots and dashes are fine; GR becomes EL. Add " | Expected name" to compare names, e.g. "IE6388047V | Google Ireland". One row per unique number.

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

Optional 2-letter EU code (e.g. "DE") used for numbers that have no country prefix.

## `requesterVatNumber` (type: `string`):

Optional. Your own EU VAT number, e.g. "DE123456789". VIES then returns a consultation number per valid check, which tax authorities accept as proof that you checked. It is sent only to VIES and is not stored in the output.

## `maxNumbers` (type: `integer`):

Check at most this many unique numbers per run (default 5000). Aliases: maxItems, limit, maxResults.

## `datasetId` (type: `string`):

Optional. Read VAT numbers from another run's dataset, e.g. a supplier or customer export. Example: "aBcD1234efGH5678". In an integration the triggering run's dataset is used automatically.

## `vatField` (type: `string`):

Field holding the VAT number (dot paths work). Leave empty to auto-detect: vatNumber, vat, vatId, vat_number, taxId, euVat.

## `nameField` (type: `string`):

Optional field to compare with the VIES name (nameMatch). Leave empty to auto-detect: companyName, name, company, legalName.

## `datasetMaxItems` (type: `integer`):

Read at most this many values from the dataset (default 1000).

## `concurrency` (type: `integer`):

Numbers checked in parallel (1-10, default 4). VIES limits concurrent requests; higher values cause more retries.

## `perCountryConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel requests per member state (1-5, default 2). Some national services (e.g. DE, IT, ES) reject bursts.

## `maxRetries` (type: `integer`):

Retries with backoff on MS_UNAVAILABLE, MS_MAX_CONCURRENT_REQ or timeouts (0-6, default 3). After that the row is service_unavailable (free).

## `requestTimeoutSecs` (type: `integer`):

Per-request timeout (5-90, default 30).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "vatNumbers": [
    "IE6388047V",
    "BE0403448140",
    "IT00743110157 | Motorola Solutions Italia",
    "DE 811 128 135"
  ],
  "defaultCountry": "",
  "maxNumbers": 5000,
  "datasetMaxItems": 1000,
  "concurrency": 4,
  "perCountryConcurrency": 2,
  "maxRetries": 3,
  "requestTimeoutSecs": 30
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per number. Example: {"vatId":"IE6388047V","status":"valid","valid":true,"name":"GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED","address":"...DUBLIN 4"}. Failed: {"vatId":"DE12","status":"invalid_format","error":"..."}.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

JSON: numbersRequested, uniqueChecked, valid, invalid, byStatus, memberStatesUnavailable, chargeLimitReached, zeroResultsReason, nextSteps.

# 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",
        "BE0403448140",
        "IT00743110157 | Motorola Solutions Italia",
        "DE 811 128 135"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("swillz/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",
        "BE0403448140",
        "IT00743110157 | Motorola Solutions Italia",
        "DE 811 128 135",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("swillz/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",
    "BE0403448140",
    "IT00743110157 | Motorola Solutions Italia",
    "DE 811 128 135"
  ]
}' |
apify call swillz/eu-vat-validator --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,swillz/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/hjeMBZvQYEzWogWWH/builds/m6gX5kPNnunbCba3u/openapi.json