vatnode
EU VAT validation — 27 EU member states + Northern Ireland

Validate EU VAT numbers —
and prove it during audits

Validate EU VAT numbers in a single REST call. Every response includes the EU Commission consultation number — the audit token VIES issues to prove the check happened. Plus national registry fallback, enriched company data, and VAT rates for all 27 member states. Built for B2B SaaS and e-commerce selling into Europe.

Built for production systems — not just form validation.

Get API key Check a VAT number
100 free requests/monthNo credit card required<50ms cached99.9% uptime SLA
$ curl api.vatnode.dev/v1/vat/IE6388047V
{ "consultationNumber": "WAPIAAAAZ27qPadm", ... }

Official EU audit token issued by the EU Commission — attach to your invoice records

Request
curl "https://api.vatnode.dev/v1/vat/IE6388047V" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
Response200 OK
{
  "valid": true,
  "vatId": "IE6388047V",
  "countryCode": "IE",
  "countryName": "Ireland",
  "companyName": "GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED",
  "companyAddress": "3RD FLOOR, GORDON HOUSE, BARROW STREET, DUBLIN 4",
  "companyRegistrationDate": null,
  "companyForm": null,
  "industryDescription": null,
  "registryCode": null,
  "registryCodeName": null,
  "countryVat": {
    "vatName": "Value Added Tax",
    "vatAbbr": "VAT",
    "currency": "EUR",
    "standardRate": 23,
    "reducedRates": [
      9,
      13.5
    ],
    "vatNumberFormat": "IE + 8-9 chars",
    "vatNumberPattern": "^IE[0-9A-Z+*]{7}[A-Z]{1,2}$"
  },
  "checkId": "019d2a89-a5d9-7b97-b710-57b84604de2b",
  "verifiedAt": "2026-03-26T14:25:57.209Z",
  "consultationNumber": "WAPIAAAAZ27qPadm",
  "source": "VIES"
}

Used to validate VAT at checkout, invoicing, and B2B onboarding.

0+VAT numbers validated
0+EU companies checked
0EU member states
<50msCache response time

Since January 2020, a valid customer VAT number is a substantive legal condition for zero-rating intra-EU goods supplies — not a best practice. VAT number validation at invoice time is your first line of defence.

Why this matters

Boolean VAT validation is not enough for audits

During a tax audit, showing that a VAT number was checked and valid at the time of invoice is a legal requirement for zero-rated intra-EU supplies. A boolean result from your own system proves nothing to a tax authority.

vatnode returns the official consultation number issued by the EU Commission — a verifiable reference that shows the check was performed, when, and what the result was. vatnode returns it as part of every qualified validation response.

Why a basic VIES call is not enough

boolean true is not audit evidence

A raw VIES check

  • ×Returns valid/invalid — no proof the check happened
  • ×No official reference to attach to an invoice
  • ×Fails during country-level VIES outages
  • ×No enriched company data from national registries

vatnode

  • ✓EU Commission consultation number — independently verifiable
  • ✓checkId + verifiedAt — permanent, timestamped audit record
  • ✓National registry fallback for covered EU countries
  • ✓Legal form, registration date, industry — in one call

Everything you need for EU VAT compliance

One API call returns validated status, enriched company data, VAT rates, and an audit trail — ready for checkout, invoicing, and B2B onboarding.

Real-time + Resilient

National registry fallback via tax authority and company registry APIs keeps validation working even when a country node is temporarily unavailable. Cache hits return in <50ms; live checks in 200–800ms.

Audit-Proof Evidence

Every validation returns an official consultation number from the EU Commission — a verifiable token that proves the check happened at a specific time. Store it alongside your invoices as evidence tax authorities can verify independently.

VAT Status Monitoring

Subscribe to any EU VAT ID. Get webhooks the moment a company becomes invalid, or when its name or address changes.

Enriched Company Data

Beyond VIES: registration date, legal form (GmbH, SAS, AB…), and industry code from national registries. Local VAT name, abbreviation, all rate tiers, and currency — in every response.

Where a VAT number belongs to a sole trader, some fields may constitute personal data under GDPR.

Developer-First

Clean REST API over HTTPS. Works with any language — curl, JavaScript, Python, PHP, Ruby, Go. Up and running in minutes.

EU-Hosted in Germany

Hosted on Vultr in Frankfurt. All validation data stays within EU jurisdiction. Public SLA on every paid plan (99.5% Starter / 99.9% Pro / 99.99% Enterprise). HTTPS everywhere, no third-party data sharing.

Up and running in minutes

No SDK. No infrastructure. Just one HTTP call.

1

Create your account

Sign up and get an API key instantly. Free plan, no credit card required.

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vat_live_••••••••••••••••

2

Make a request

One HTTP call. Works with any language — curl, JavaScript, Python, PHP.

GET /v1/vat/IE6388047V

Authorization: Bearer vat_live_...

3

Get structured data

Company name, address, validity, and VAT rates for the country — all in one response.

"valid": true,

"companyName": "GOOGLE...",

Built for real B2B workflows

vatnode handles VAT validation wherever your business touches an EU counterparty.

Checkout

Validate a customer's VAT number at checkout to apply the correct reverse charge or tax rate — without blocking the buy button on VIES downtime.

Invoicing

Verify VAT before generating zero-rated intra-EU invoices. Store the consultationNumber alongside your invoice — it's the EU Commission-issued reference that proves the check happened at invoice time.

B2B onboarding

Confirm a new business customer is registered. Enrich the record with legal form, registry code, and industry from national registries.

Monitoring

Track VAT IDs of active customers and get webhook alerts when a registration becomes invalid between billing cycles — before it surfaces in an audit.

Integration guides

How to Validate EU VAT Numbers

Format checks, live lookup, audit trail.

Stripe VAT Validation

Add EU VAT validation to Stripe Checkout.

Migrating from VIES SOAP

REST JSON alternative with fallback and audit trail.

All integration guides →

Simple, transparent pricing

Start free, upgrade when you need more

Free

€0/month

For testing and small projects

  • 100 requests/month
  • VAT validation
  • VAT rates API
  • Community support
Start free
Most Popular

Starter

€19/month

For growing businesses

  • 1,000 requests/month
  • Everything in Free
  • Weekly monitoring
  • Webhooks
  • Email support
Start free

Pro

€49/month

For high-volume needs

  • 10,000 requests/month
  • Everything in Starter
  • Daily monitoring
  • Priority support
Start free

View full pricing details →

What vatnode adds beyond raw VAT lookup

The official EU VAT database returns a valid/invalid signal and basic company details. vatnode adds national registry fallback, enriched company data, audit trail, and VAT rates — all in a single REST call.

Interface
Other EU source
Raw database access
Direct database protocol, requires a specialised client
vatnode
REST JSON over HTTPS
Standard HTTP — curl, fetch, any library, any language
Reliability
Other EU source
Single point of failure
Country node down = validation fails
vatnode
National registry fallback + enrichment
Falls back to national tax authority and company registry APIs when VIES is unavailable
Company data
Other EU source
Name + address only
No structured enrichment available
vatnode
Registration date, legal form, industry code
GmbH, SAS, AB — legal form and NACE industry code from national registries
Audit trail
Other EU source
No logging
You must build your own storage layer
vatnode
checkId + verifiedAt + VIES consultation number
UUID + ISO timestamp + EU Commission-issued consultation number when you pass your own VAT as requester — audit-grade evidence tax authorities expect
VAT rate data
Other EU source
Separate call needed
No rate data — you maintain your own lookup
vatnode
All rate tiers bundled in every response
Standard, reduced, super-reduced, parking — plus local name and abbreviation

All of the above arrives in a single REST call. See the full response schema

Looking at other VAT API providers? See how vatnode compares →

Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know before integrating

Ready to validate VAT numbers?

Start validating in minutes. Free plan, no credit card — test your full integration before you upgrade.

Get your API key