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Malta VAT Number Checker
A Maltese VAT number is MT followed by eight digits.
Malta registers VAT payers under different articles of its VAT Act. Businesses registered under Article 10 — the standard registration — appear in VIES. Small undertakings registered under Article 11 do not, so their genuine Maltese number comes back invalid for intra-EU purposes.
Checked live against VIES, the European Commission’s VAT Information Exchange System. Not affiliated with the European Commission or the Malta tax authority.
Malta VAT number format
- Local name
- VAT registration number
- Structure
- MT + 8 digits
- Format example
- MT12345678Illustrative: right shape, not a registered business.
- Standard rate
- 18% · reduced 7%, 5%
MT plus eight digits. The last two digits are check digits.
How this Malta check works
- Format, in your browser. As you type, the number is compared with the Malta 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
Expecting an Article 11 number to validate
A small undertaking's Article 11 registration is domestic only. VIES reports it as invalid, which is the right answer for zero-rating a cross-border supply.
Sending the company registration number
Maltese company numbers look like C12345 and come from the Malta Business Registry. They are not VAT numbers.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a registered Maltese business fail in VIES?
Most often because it is registered under Article 11 as a small undertaking. Only Article 10 registrations are listed in VIES.
Is a C number a VAT number?
No. C numbers identify companies in the business registry; the VAT number is MT plus eight digits.
Is checking the format enough?
No. The format check catches typos; the VIES lookup tells you whether the number is registered today.
Validating Malta numbers from your own code instead of by hand? The Malta 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.