Home / Tools / VAT Number Checker / Belgium
Belgian VAT Number Checker
A Belgian VAT number is the company's enterprise number from the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (KBO/BCE) with BE in front: BE followed by ten digits, the first of which is 0 or 1.
Because the VAT number and the enterprise number share their digits, a Belgian number can exist and still fail in VIES: every company gets an enterprise number, but only those registered for VAT are active for VAT.
Checked live against VIES, the European Commission’s VAT Information Exchange System. Not affiliated with the European Commission or the Belgium tax authority.
Belgium VAT number format
- Local name
- BTW/TVA (Belasting over de Toegevoegde Waarde / Taxe sur la Valeur Ajoutée)
- Structure
- BE + 0 or 1 + 9 digits (10 digits total)
- Format example
- BE0123456789Illustrative: right shape, not a registered business.
- Standard rate
- 21% · reduced 12%, 6%
BE plus ten digits, starting with 0 or 1. Belgian documents often write the number with dots — 0123.456.789 — and the dots are stripped before the check. Older material shows nine digits; those numbers now take a leading 0.
How this Belgium check works
- Format, in your browser. As you type, the number is compared with the Belgium pattern (prefix, length and characters). This costs nothing and sends nothing: a number in the wrong shape is rejected on the spot and never reaches the registry.
- Registration, live. A well-formed number is then looked up in VIES, the European Commission’s VAT Information Exchange System, which says whether it is registered today and, where the register publishes them, the business name and address. Free checks are limited per visitor per hour so the registry is not scraped through this page.
- More checks, or from your code. A free account gives you an API key with 100 validations a month, the same answer as this page as JSON.
What usually goes wrong
Using the old nine-digit form
Belgian numbers moved to ten digits by adding a leading 0. BE123456789 fails the format; BE0123456789 is the same number in the current form.
Assuming an enterprise number means VAT registration
Non-profits and some small businesses have an enterprise number without being registered for VAT. VIES will report the number as invalid, which is correct: the customer cannot receive a zero-rated invoice under it.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Belgian VAT number the same as the enterprise number?
The digits are the same. The VAT number is the enterprise number with the BE prefix, and it is only active in VIES once the business is registered for VAT.
Why do some Belgian numbers start with 1?
Enterprise numbers are allocated in sequence. Numbers starting with 0 were issued first; newer registrations can start with 1. Both are valid formats.
Should I enter the dots?
You can paste the number as printed. Dots, spaces and the BE prefix are normalised before the check.
Validating Belgium numbers from your own code instead of by hand? The Belgium VAT validation API guide has the endpoint, the response shape and examples in four languages. To check a number from another country, go back to the VAT number checker.