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EU VAT number format by country

Updated: 1 November 2026 · Klik&Shop

Each EU country has its own structure for VAT identification numbers. Here is the overview, with fictitious examples.

Overview

Every number starts with the two-letter country code. Spaces, dots and dashes are not part of the number and can be omitted.

Code	Country	Format after the country code	Example (fictitious)
`AT`	Austria	ATU + 8 digits	`ATU12345678`
`BE`	Belgium	10 digits, starting with 0 or 1	`BE0123456789`
`BG`	Bulgaria	9 or 10 digits	`BG123456789`
`CY`	Cyprus	8 digits + 1 letter	`CY12345678X`
`CZ`	Czechia	8, 9 or 10 digits	`CZ12345678`
`DE`	Germany	9 digits	`DE123456789`
`DK`	Denmark	8 digits	`DK12345678`
`EE`	Estonia	9 digits	`EE123456789`
`EL`	Greece	EL (not GR) + 9 digits	`EL123456789`
`ES`	Spain	9 characters: letter or digit, 7 digits, letter or digit	`ESX1234567X`
`FI`	Finland	8 digits	`FI12345678`
`FR`	France	2 characters (digits or letters, no I/O) + 9 digits (SIREN)	`FR12345678901`
`HR`	Croatia	11 digits (OIB)	`HR12345678901`
`HU`	Hungary	8 digits	`HU12345678`
`IE`	Ireland	7 digits + 1 or 2 letters (or old format: digit, letter, 5 digits, letter)	`IE1234567WA`
`IT`	Italy	11 digits	`IT12345678901`
`LT`	Lithuania	9 or 12 digits	`LT123456789`
`LU`	Luxembourg	8 digits	`LU12345678`
`LV`	Latvia	11 digits	`LV12345678901`
`MT`	Malta	8 digits	`MT12345678`
`NL`	Netherlands	9 digits + B + 2 digits	`NL123456789B01`
`PL`	Poland	10 digits	`PL1234567890`
`PT`	Portugal	9 digits	`PT123456789`
`RO`	Romania	2 to 10 digits	`RO1234567890`
`SE`	Sweden	12 digits (usually ending in 01)	`SE123456789001`
`SI`	Slovenia	8 digits	`SI12345678`
`SK`	Slovakia	10 digits	`SK1234567890`
`XI`	Northern Ireland	9 or 12 digits (or GD/HA + 3 digits)	`XI123456789`

Examples are fictitious and only show the structure.

Greece = EL, not GR. A number with GR is not recognised by VIES (our API converts GR to EL automatically).
Netherlands: VAT ID vs. tax number. Since 1 January 2020 Dutch sole traders have a separate VAT identification number (NL + 9 digits + B + 2 digits) for invoices and websites. Check the VAT ID in VIES.
Austria always starts with ATU.
United Kingdom: GB numbers have not been in VIES since 2021. Northern Ireland uses XI for goods.
A correct format is not a valid number. Only VIES can confirm the number is active.

The free VAT number check first validates the format and then queries VIES live. The EU VAT Check API does the same: a badly formatted number gets 400 invalid_format right away and costs no check. More in how to check an EU VAT number.

NL followed by 9 digits, the letter B and 2 digits, e.g. NL123456789B01.

In the EU VAT system Greece uses the code EL (from Ellas) instead of the ISO code GR.

5 one-time free checks via VIES, or automate with the API (5 free checks a month).