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Croatian VAT Number Checker
A Croatian VAT number is HR followed by the eleven-digit OIB (osobni identifikacijski broj), the personal identification number every person and company in Croatia has.
Because the OIB is universal, a Croatian number in the right shape tells you very little. Only businesses in the VAT system are active in VIES.
Checked live against VIES, the European Commission’s VAT Information Exchange System. Not affiliated with the European Commission or the Croatia tax authority.
Croatia VAT number format
- Local name
- OIB / PDV ID (Osobni identifikacijski broj / Porez na dodanu vrijednost)
- Structure
- HR + 11 digits
- Format example
- HR12345678901Illustrative: right shape, not a registered business.
- Standard rate
- 25% · reduced 13%, 5%
HR plus eleven digits. The last digit is a check digit.
How this Croatia check works
- Format, in your browser. As you type, the number is compared with the Croatia 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
Assuming an OIB means VAT registration
Every Croatian company has an OIB; many small ones are not in the VAT system. Their OIB is genuine and their VAT number is invalid.
Sending the MBS court register number
The court register number (MBS) is a different identifier. Only the OIB is used for VAT.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Croatian VAT number the same as the OIB?
The digits are the same: the VAT number is HR plus the OIB. It is active in VIES only while the business is registered for VAT.
What does PDV mean?
PDV (porez na dodanu vrijednost) is the Croatian name for VAT.
Is checking the format enough?
No. The format check catches typos; the VIES lookup tells you whether the number is registered today.
Validating Croatia numbers from your own code instead of by hand? The Croatia 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.