How accurate is the validation?

vatnode queries VIES in real time, and VIES asks the member state’s national VAT database, so accuracy is as good as the EU system itself: when VIES says ‘valid’, the number was registered and active at the exact moment of the check. Some member states update their registrations closer to real time than others, so a very recent change may take a day or two to appear. Valid results are cached for 15 minutes for speed – the source field on every response tells you whether an answer was fresh or served from cache. If you’ve set your own EU VAT as the requester in dashboard Account details, caching is bypassed automatically so every check gets a fresh VIES lookup; see the validation endpoint reference for the exact behavior.

Where the answer comes from

VIES does not hold its own database of businesses. It forwards each query to the member state that issued the number and relays that state’s answer. What is VIES? covers this in more detail. That is why accuracy and the amount of company data returned differ from country to country.

Reading the source field

• VIES – a live VIES answer.
• CACHE – the base validation was served from vatnode’s cache, up to 15 minutes old.
• A national registry code such as MF_PL – the answer came from the national register instead of VIES: VIES was unavailable, or, for some member states, the register answered before VIES.

Only a VIES answer can carry a consultation number.

What validation does not tell you

A valid result confirms the number’s status at that moment, for intra-EU use. It does not confirm anything afterwards, so a number valid today can lapse later. For ongoing relationships, VAT monitoring re-checks numbers on a schedule.

Format is not validity

A number can have a correct format and still be invalid because no business holds it. vatnode checks the live register, not just a pattern; see the EU VAT number formats reference for the formats themselves.