Skip to main content

VIES — EU VAT validation

The European Commission's VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) is the authoritative source for EU member-state VAT-number validation.

What we use​

  • Endpoint: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/rest-api/check-vat-number
  • Method: POST, JSON body, JSON response
  • No ext-soap — this is the modern REST endpoint, not the deprecated SOAP one Magento native still hits

Supported countries​

All 27 EU member states plus Northern Ireland (XI):

AT, BE, BG, CY, CZ, DE, DK, EE, EL, ES, FI, FR, HR, HU, IE, IT, LT, LU, LV, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SE, SI, SK, XI

The module silently rewrites GR → EL because VIES uses the linguistic code for Greece, not the ISO code.

What you get back​

{
  "isValid": true,
  "requestDate": "2026-04-25+02:00",
  "userError": "VALID",
  "name": "Acme GmbH",
  "address": "Musterstraße 1\n10115 Berlin",
  "requestIdentifier": "WAPIAAAA..."
}

We surface requestIdentifier as the most important field for German merchants — it's the proof of qualified confirmation (§18 UStG) you'd retain for any reverse-charge invoice.

Why send your own VAT?​

Configure Requester Country Code + Requester VAT Number in the module's General config. When set, VIES treats the call as a qualified confirmation (Bestätigungsverfahren) and returns a stronger identifier. Without these, the response is weaker and harder to defend in audit.

Outage behaviour​

VIES has scheduled maintenance windows (typically Monday early-morning CET) and unscheduled outages. When VIES returns 5xx or times out, the module returns unavailable — and unavailable results never strip a customer's existing customer group. Native Magento downgrades on outage; we don't.