VerSys
VAT / tax

VIES VAT check

Check live EU VAT registration evidence and understand what VIES can and cannot prove.

What this check does

A VIES check queries the EU VAT Information Exchange System for active EU VAT registration evidence.

What is VIES?

VIES is the European Commission system used to check whether an EU VAT number is active at the time of lookup.

What the result means

A positive response confirms the VAT number was active in VIES at lookup time.

What the result does not prove

It does not prove the customer is the contractual counterparty or that reverse charge applies to every supply.

When businesses should use it

  • Cross-border EU B2B invoices
  • Reverse-charge evidence
  • Periodic customer master-data review

Example workflow

  1. Collect the VAT number.
  2. Run VIES and save the timestamped result.
  3. Keep invoice wording and customer evidence together.

Data sources

European Commission VIES responses and local VAT format validation.

Limitations

VIES can be unavailable and some member states restrict name/address disclosure.

Related checks

Reverse charge VAT checkVAT evidence report

VAT evidence flow

VAT validation is useful when it records both the identifier checked and the source used. Format checks, VIES evidence and invoice notes answer different questions.

How to use this page in practice

Start with the public check when you need a quick answer, then move to signed-in evidence, batch processing or the API when the same control becomes part of a repeatable finance, tax or operations workflow.

FAQ

Can VIES be down?

Yes. Keep a retry process and record failed attempts where evidence matters.