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VAT Number Format
The country-specific structure that a VAT number must follow to be considered valid. Each EU member state has a unique format: a two-letter country prefix followed by 8–12 characters that may be numeric, alphanumeric, or include specific separators. Format validation is the first step before querying VIES.
Every EU member state has its own VAT number format — a country prefix plus a number of digits or alphanumeric characters that varies by country. Validating the format before querying VIES catches the majority of user input errors instantly, without a network call. This saves API quota, reduces latency, and produces better error messages (telling the user their number looks wrong for a German VAT number is more useful than a generic 'not found in VIES' response).
EU VAT Number Formats
| Country | Prefix | Format | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | DE | DE + 9 digits | DE123456789 | Most straightforward |
| France | FR | FR + 2 alphanumeric + 9 digits | FR12345678901 | First 2 chars can be letters or digits |
| Spain | ES | ES + char + 7 digits + char | ESX1234567X | First and last can be letter or digit |
| Netherlands | NL | NL + 9 digits + B + 2 digits | NL123456789B01 | B is mandatory |
| Italy | IT | IT + 11 digits | IT12345678901 | All numeric |
| Poland | PL | PL + 10 digits | PL1234567890 | 10 digits not 9 |
| Belgium | BE | BE + 10 digits | BE0123456789 | Leading zero valid |
| Sweden | SE | SE + 12 digits | SE123456789001 | Always ends 01 |
| Greece | EL | EL + 9 digits | EL123456789 | EL not GR — most common mistake |
Warning
Greece uses the prefix EL in VIES, not GR. GR is Greece's ISO country code, but its VAT system uses the EU-internal EL prefix. Submitting GR123456789 to VIES returns a country_not_found error. The TaxID API accepts both GR and EL and normalises internally.
Non-EU Formats
Outside the EU, the UK uses GB + 9 digits (or XI for Northern Ireland). Australia uses ABNs — 11-digit numbers with no prefix (validated as AU in the TaxID API). Norway uses MVA numbers: 9-digit organisation number + MVA. Switzerland uses UID format: CHE-XXX.XXX.XXX MWST.
For country-specific format details, regex patterns, and live validation tools, see the individual VAT API country pages. Each page includes the exact format specification, a valid example number, and copy-paste code to validate that country's format in Node.js, Python, and PHP.
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