What should I do when the verification of the EU VAT number in VIES failed or VIES returned information that the number is incorrect or does not exist?
Important Disclaimer
The viesapi.eu service is not responsible for managing the VIES System, which is maintained by the European Commission. All matters related to outdated company data in the VIES System should be directed to the tax administration of a given country that is a member of the European Union.
How and where to get help if your EU VAT number is invalid
If a VAT number is shown as invalid, in the first instance check with your customer that the number quoted is correct (correct number of characters, correct length and country prefix). If the number quoted by your customer, even after checking, continues to be ‘invalid’, you should ask that business to contact his/her tax administration to request that the data in the national VAT Information Exchange System (VIES) be updated (only national tax administrations can update VIES data).
Should you find out that your business’ data are incorrect or not up to date, you should contact your own tax administration and ask for it to be corrected. Please note that some EU tax administrations will require you to submit such requests in writing or by completing a form.
Some Member States / Northern Ireland require an additional registration for intra-EU transactions and record in their national VIES databases only such VAT numbers; therefore, it is possible that a VAT number, even if correct, will not be validated through VIES, because the owner of that VAT number is not involved in intra-EU transactions or did not register for that purposes with his/her tax administration.
The tax administration that has to be contacted is always the administration that has allocated the VAT identification number for which mistakes or incorrect data are encountered. This tax administration can be identified by the country prefix that precedes the VAT identification number. The adjustments are done in conformity with the domestic procedures of the Member State / Northern Ireland concerned.
Attached you can find a list containing the web-links to the homepages of the national tax administrations that you can contact for correction
Source: VIES FAQ.
What do I have to do if my own the VAT number or the VAT number of my customer appers as invalid?
The Commission´s web site is a real-time system which checks the validity of VAT identification numbers against the databases maintained by Member States / Northern Ireland. In other words, when you check a number, it is the database of that Member State / Northern Ireland that is being checked.
If your VAT number appears as invalid, you should take this matter up with your own tax administration.
If the VAT number of your customer comes up as invalid, then he should take the matter up with his fiscal administration.
You will find more answers to the most frequently asked questions on our website: VIES API FAQ.
