Spain VAT API – Validate Spain VAT Numbers in Real Time

Why a Spain-Aware VAT API

In Spain, VAT is known as Impuesto sobre el Valor Añadido (IVA) and the current standard rate is 21%. Every Spain VAT number starts with the prefix ES and follows a fixed structure issued by the Spanish tax authority. A generic VAT validator that ignores country-specific quirks will accept malformed input and miss the country’s format rules.

The vatnode API normalises IVA input, runs the official VIES check, and returns a single JSON shape with the consultation number, company data where published, and the current Spain VAT rates inline.

Spain VAT Number Format

Real Spain VAT numbers you can validate right now:

• ESA15075062 — Inditex SA
• ESA28015865 — Telefónica SA
• ESA39000013 — Banco Santander SA

More of them live in the EU VAT number directory, grouped by member state.

Validating Spain VAT Numbers – Code Examples

All three examples validate the same Spain VAT number ESA15075062. To receive a consultation number back, set your own VAT as requester once in dashboard Account details – then every call, including these, returns a consultation number automatically, with no extra parameters.

curl 'https://api.vatnode.dev/v1/vat/ESA15075062' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

const res = await fetch(
  'https://api.vatnode.dev/v1/vat/ESA15075062',
  { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.VATNODE_API_KEY}` } }
)
const data = await res.json()
console.log(data.valid, data.companyName, data.consultationNumber)

import os, httpx

r = httpx.get(
    "https://api.vatnode.dev/v1/vat/ESA15075062",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['VATNODE_API_KEY']}"},
)
data = r.json()
print(data["valid"], data["companyName"], data["consultationNumber"])

What You Get Back

A successful response for a valid SpainVAT number, once you've set your VAT as requester in dashboard Account details, looks like this:

{
  "valid": true,
  "vatId": "ESA15075062",
  "countryCode": "ES",
  "countryName": "Spain",
  "companyName": "Inditex SA",
  "consultationNumber": "WAPIAAAAXk7ZpY3o",
  "source": "VIES",
  "countryVat": {
    "currency": "EUR",
    "standardRate": 21,
    "reducedRates": [10],
    "superReducedRate": 4,
    "parkingRate": null
  },
  "verifiedAt": "2026-05-19T08:14:22Z"
}

When the number is not registered, valid is false and company fields are null. The consultationNumber is the EU VIES requestIdentifier – the documented audit reference for reverse-charge ‘reasonable care’ evidence. It is returned once you set your own VAT as requester in dashboard Settings; otherwise it is null.

Spain VAT Rates

vatnode returns the current Spanish IVA rates inline with every successful response. Today’s rates (standard 21%, reduced 10%, super-reduced 4%) are sourced from the European Commission TEDB feed, checked daily and updated on any change.

VIES vs National Fallback for Spain

For Spain, VIES is the sole authoritative source. vatnode does not run a national-registry fallback for this country today – when VIES is unavailable, the API surfaces a structured VIES_UNAVAILABLE error with retry guidance so you can degrade gracefully rather than silently accept unverified numbers.

Cached VIES responses (15-minute TTL on identical VAT IDs) absorb the majority of short outages transparently. For the full per-country fallback status, see the coverage matrix.

Spain VAT API – FAQ

VAT APIs for Other EU Countries

• Sweden VAT API — validate moms numbers
• Austria VAT number validation API
• Belgium VAT API — validate BTW numbers
• Germany VAT number validation API

See Also

• vatnode Quickstart – API key in 60 seconds
• VAT validation reference – endpoint, parameters, error codes
• Spain VAT number format, rates, and verified examples
• Validate Spain VAT numbers from AI agents (Claude, Cursor) via MCP

Building an AI workflow? vatnode is also available to AI agents through the official MCP server — Claude, Cursor and ChatGPT can validate Spain VAT numbers and look up rates directly in chat.