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German VAT Number Checker
Every German business has two tax numbers and only one of them works for EU trade. The Steuernummer comes from the local Finanzamt and belongs on domestic invoices. The USt-IdNr. — DE followed by nine digits — is the one VIES knows about, and the one you need before you can zero-rate a cross-border sale.
Customers hand over the wrong one constantly, and it is not carelessness: a German invoice prints both, and both are labelled as tax numbers. The failure then looks like an invalid customer rather than a wrong field.
Checked live against VIES, the European Commission's VAT Information Exchange System. Not affiliated with the European Commission or the Germany tax authority.
Germany VAT number format
- Local name
- USt-IdNr. (Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer)
- Structure
- DE + 9 digits
- Valid example
- DE123456789
- Standard rate
- 19% · reduced 7%
DE plus nine digits, no letters and no separators. A Steuernummer is ten or eleven digits and is usually written with slashes, which is the quickest way to spot that you have been handed the wrong number.
What usually goes wrong
Accepting a Steuernummer
It will never validate in VIES, because VIES has no visibility of local tax numbers at all. If a German customer's number fails, ask specifically for the Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer before treating them as unregistered.
Assuming a new registration is immediately live
A newly registered German company can wait up to four weeks for its USt-IdNr. to be issued and propagate. An invalid result for a genuinely new business is expected — retry later rather than blocking the account.
Sending the number with spaces
German invoices commonly print DE 123 456 789. VIES expects an unbroken string, so strip whitespace before the call rather than passing what was pasted.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a USt-IdNr. and a Steuernummer?
The Steuernummer identifies a business to its local tax office for domestic filing. The USt-IdNr. identifies it for intra-EU trade and is the only one registered in VIES. A company has both at once, and they share no digits.
Why does a valid-looking German number come back invalid?
The two most common causes are a Steuernummer supplied by mistake and a registration that has not propagated yet. A third is a business that has since been deregistered — the format stays correct after the registration ends.
What is the German VAT rate?
The standard Umsatzsteuer rate is 19%, with a reduced rate of 7% on food, books, newspapers and public transport.
Validating Germany numbers from your own code instead of by hand? The Germany 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.