What is VIES?

VIES stands for the VAT Information Exchange System. It is a free online tool provided by the European Commission that allows businesses to check whether an EU VAT number is valid.

VIES is commonly used when trading with other businesses within the European Union.

Why is VAT Number Validation Important? ✅

When selling goods or services to another VAT-registered business within the EU, the transaction may qualify for VAT-free treatment under EU VAT rules.

To apply this correctly, you should always verify that your customer’s VAT number is valid in VIES.

Failing to validate a VAT number could result in:

• Charging VAT when it may not be required
• Not charging VAT when VAT should have been applied
• Questions or penalties during a tax audit

For this reason, we strongly recommend validating your customer’s VAT number before completing the transaction.

How to Use VIES 🔍

1. Open the VIES VAT validation website
2. Select your customer’s EU country
3. Enter the VAT number
   • In most cases, the country code is entered automatically when you select the country
4. Click Verify

What Information Will You See? 📄

VIES will confirm whether the VAT number is:

• ✅ Valid
• ❌ Invalid

Depending on the country and tax authority, you may also see:

• Business name
• Registered address

Please note that some tax authorities do not publicly display company details.

Important Notes ⚠️

• VIES only validates EU VAT numbers
• Newly issued VAT numbers may take some time to appear in the system
• Temporary outages of the VIES system can occasionally occur
• Always keep records or screenshots of your VAT validations for your own compliance documentation

VIES VAT Validation Website 🌐

You can access the official VIES validation tool here:

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/