Invalid, unverifiable or unregistered VAT number: what to do

The three cases to tell apart

This guide explains how to tell the three situations apart, what the rules say, what to do and what proof to keep. Checked on 15 October 2026.

When a check fails, the answer can cover three situations that must not be mixed up.

• Wrong number: the format or the check digits are wrong (typo, extra character, a national company number in place of the VAT number). The number cannot exist as written. See French VAT number: format and check.
• Member state service unavailable: the check goes through the official EU verification service, which queries each member state. If a state's service does not answer or is overloaded, you have no answer: the number is neither valid nor invalid.
• Well-formed but not registered: the format is correct, but the state answers that the number is not active for intra-EU transactions. The customer may never have applied for it, may have received it only recently, or may no longer be registered.

{
 "code": "vat_format",
 "ok": false,
 "value": "DE12345678"
}

{
 "number": "IT12345678901",
 "country": "IT",
 "status": "unverifiable",
 "valid": null,
 "checked_at": null,
 "retrying": true
}

{
 "number": "IT12345678901",
 "country": "IT",
 "status": "invalid",
 "valid": false,
 "checked_at": "2026-10-15T09:21:04Z"
}

Effect on the exemption and the reverse charge

For a supply of goods to a customer in another member state, the exemption in article 138 of the VAT Directive (Directive 2006/112/EC) requires, among other things, that the customer is identified for VAT in a member state other than the one the goods leave, and has given you that number. Since 1 January 2020, Directive (EU) 2018/1910 (text on EUR-Lex) makes this identification a substantive condition: without a valid number, the exemption can be refused even if the goods did leave the country. The recapitulative statement must also be correct.

Each state applies this in its own law and guidance. Your national tax authority publishes the rules that apply to you; the EU institutions explain the system on their taxation pages. As an example, in France the exemption rests on article 262 ter I of the General Tax Code (Légifrance), and the French guidance (BOFiP, bofip.impots.gouv.fr) says that without a valid number the supply is subject to French VAT.

For a supply of services between businesses, VAT is in principle due by the customer, who accounts for it in their own country (reverse charge). The number mainly proves that the customer is a taxable person: an invalid number weakens that proof.

Example. A French company invoices 5,000 EUR excluding VAT of equipment to a German customer whose number is rejected. If the number stays invalid, the invoice without VAT can be challenged: French VAT at the standard rate of 20% (1,000 EUR) can then be claimed from the seller.

What to do in each case

1. Wrong number: contact the customer, ask for their VAT registration certificate or a recent invoice, and copy the number exactly. Then check again.
2. Service unavailable: conclude nothing. Check again a few hours later, then the next day. Until you have an answer, do not ship VAT-exempt on the strength of the format alone.
3. Not registered: ask the customer to put their registration right with their tax authority, or to confirm the correct number. If they cannot do it before invoicing, charge VAT and correct the invoice afterwards if the number becomes valid.

In every case, keep your written exchanges with the customer. For a doubt about a specific transaction, ask your accountant or your tax office.

The proof to keep

A check that leaves no trace does not protect you. For each check, keep:

• the date and time of the consultation;
• the VAT number checked and the answer (valid, invalid, unavailable);
• the consultation number, which the official service issues when you also give your own VAT number: it records the date and the result of the check;
• a screenshot or PDF of the result screen, filed with the invoice.

Check at the time of the sale, not only when you create the customer: a number can stop being valid.

Check a number now

The VAT number check tool checks a number and shows one of three results: valid, invalid or cannot be checked right now. To find the company from its name first, use the company search.

Keep reading

• VATFrench VAT number: format and how to check itThe French, Belgian and Swiss formats, the mentions on the invoice and the check before invoicing.
• VERIFICATIONIs this company real? Checks before signingA six-point checklist: identifier, status, name and address, VAT, signals and sanctions lists.
• CUSTOMSEORI number: what it is for and how to check itThe customs identifier of companies that import or export: what it is for, the link with the SIRET and how to check it.