VAT Validation

Overview

Topograph automatically validates VAT numbers for EU companies via the EU VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) service. This validation provides legally admissible proof of VAT verification for audit purposes.

How It Works

When you request a company profile for supported EU countries, Topograph:

Calculates the VAT number from the company’s registration number (e.g., SIREN in France, NIF in Spain)
Performs a qualified VIES check using Topograph’s own VAT number as the requester
Returns verification details including the consultation number (legal proof)

Response Structure

The taxId field is included in company profile responses:

{
  "company": {
    "id": "932884117",
    "countryCode": "FR",
    "identifiers": {
      "siren": "932884117",
      "VAT": "21932884117"
    },
    "taxId": {
      "type": "eu_vat",
      "value": "21932884117",
      "country": "FR",
      "verification": {
        "status": "verified",
        "verifiedAt": "2026-02-04T15:30:00.000Z",
        "verifiedName": "TOPOGRAPH SAS",
        "verifiedAddress": "1 RUE EXAMPLE 75001 PARIS",
        "consultationNumber": "WAPIAAAAW1234567890"
      }
    }
  }
}

Fields

Field	Description
`type`	Tax ID type. Currently `eu_vat` for EU VAT numbers
`value`	VAT number without country prefix (e.g., `21932884117` not `FR21932884117`)
`country`	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code (e.g., `FR`, `ES`)
`verification.status`	Verification status: `verified`, `unverified`, or `unavailable`
`verification.verifiedAt`	ISO 8601 timestamp of when the verification was performed
`verification.verifiedName`	Company name as registered with VIES
`verification.verifiedAddress`	Company address as registered with VIES
`verification.consultationNumber`	The legal proof - unique identifier from VIES for audit purposes

Verification Statuses

Status	Meaning
`verified`	VAT number is valid and registered with VIES. The company can perform EU cross-border transactions.
`unverified`	VAT number format is valid but not registered with VIES. The company may not be registered for EU trade.
`unavailable`	Unable to verify (VIES service unavailable, invalid format, etc.)

The Consultation Number

The consultationNumber is the critical piece for legal compliance. This is the official receipt from the EU VIES system that proves you validated the VAT number at a specific point in time.

Store the consultationNumber along with the verifiedAt timestamp in your records. This is the legally admissible proof that you performed due diligence when validating a customer’s VAT number.

Supported Countries

Full taxId Support (VAT in profile + VIES verification)

Country	VAT Format	Notes
🇫🇷 France	FR + 11 digits	VAT calculated from SIREN using official formula
🇪🇸 Spain	ES + NIF	VAT equals NIF. Requires ROI registration for EU trade
🇸🇪 Sweden	SE + 12 digits	Organisationsnummer + “01” suffix
🇮🇹 Italy	IT + 11 digits	Partita IVA from Infocamere
🇵🇹 Portugal	PT + 9 digits	NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal)
🇵🇱 Poland	PL + 10 digits	NIP (Numer Identyfikacji Podatkowej)
🇪🇪 Estonia	EE + 9 digits	VAT from registry API
🇦🇹 Austria	ATU + 8 digits	VAT via VIES reverse lookup
🇧🇪 Belgium	BE + 10 digits	Enterprise Number (KBO/BCE)
🇱🇺 Luxembourg	LU + 8 digits	VAT via VIES reverse lookup
🇩🇰 Denmark	DK + 8 digits	CVR number
🇨🇿 Czechia	CZ + 8-10 digits	IČO for companies
🇷🇴 Romania	RO + 2-10 digits	CUI (Cod Unic de Înregistrare)
🇭🇺 Hungary	HU + 8 digits	First 8 digits of tax number
🇫🇮 Finland	FI + 8 digits	Business ID without hyphen
🇭🇷 Croatia	HR + 11 digits	OIB (Osobni Identifikacijski Broj)

VAT Search Only (VIES reverse lookup)

For these countries, you can search by VAT number, but the taxId field won’t appear in company profiles because the VAT is neither algorithmically derivable from the registration number nor available in the registry API.

Country	VAT Format	Notes
🇱🇻 Latvia	LV + 11 digits	Search via VIES, no taxId in profile
🇨🇾 Cyprus	CY + 8 digits + 1 letter	Search via VIES, no taxId in profile
🇮🇪 Ireland	IE + 7-9 characters	Search via VIES, no taxId in profile
🇲🇹 Malta	MT + 8 digits	Search via VIES, no taxId in profile

Country-Specific Notes

France

The French VAT number (TVA Intracommunautaire) is calculated mathematically from the SIREN:

Key = (12 + 3 × (SIREN mod 97)) mod 97
VAT = Key (2 digits) + SIREN (9 digits)

Example: SIREN 932884117 → VAT 21932884117

Spain

In Spain, the VAT number equals the NIF (Número de Identificación Fiscal):

NIF: A82511361
VAT: A82511361 (same value)

Having a Spanish NIF does not guarantee the company is VAT-registered for EU trade. Companies must be enrolled in the ROI (Registro de Operadores Intracomunitarios) to perform intra-community transactions. VIES will return unverified for companies not in ROI.

Sweden

Swedish VAT is derived from the Organisationsnummer with a “01” suffix:

Organisationsnummer: 5560360793
VAT: 556036079301

Belgium

Belgian VAT equals the Enterprise Number (KBO/BCE number):

Enterprise Number: 0644911041
VAT: 0644911041

Countries with VIES Reverse Lookup Only

For Latvia, Cyprus, Ireland, and Malta, the VAT number cannot be derived from the registration number and is not available in the registry API. However, you can still:

Search by VAT - Enter a VAT number to find the company via VIES reverse lookup
Verify VAT - The search returns the company name from VIES, which is then matched to the local registry

VIES reverse lookup searches by VAT number and returns the company name, which is then used to search the local registry. This may return multiple results if the company name is common.

Searching by VAT Number

You can search for companies using their VAT number (with or without the country prefix):

# With prefix
curl -G https://api.topograph.co/v2/search \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "country=FR" \
  --data-urlencode "query=FR21932884117"

# Without prefix (11 digits for France)
curl -G https://api.topograph.co/v2/search \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "country=FR" \
  --data-urlencode "query=21932884117"

The search will automatically extract the underlying company identifier (SIREN/NIF) and return the matching company.

Best Practices

Always store the consultation number - This is your legal proof of verification
Re-validate periodically - VAT registrations can change; consider re-validating before significant transactions
Handle unverified gracefully - Not all companies are VAT-registered, especially in Spain where ROI enrollment is separate
Use the identifiers.VAT field - This is always present and contains the calculated VAT value without prefix

Getting Started

Integration Guides

Core Features

Behavior & Operations

Overview

How It Works

Response Structure

Fields

Verification Statuses

The Consultation Number

Supported Countries

Full taxId Support (VAT in profile + VIES verification)

VAT Search Only (VIES reverse lookup)

Country-Specific Notes

France

Spain

Sweden

Belgium

Countries with VIES Reverse Lookup Only

Searching by VAT Number

Best Practices

​Overview

​How It Works

​Response Structure

​Fields

​Verification Statuses

​The Consultation Number

​Supported Countries

​Full taxId Support (VAT in profile + VIES verification)

​VAT Search Only (VIES reverse lookup)

​Country-Specific Notes

​France

​Spain

​Sweden

​Belgium

​Countries with VIES Reverse Lookup Only

​Searching by VAT Number

​Best Practices

Overview

How It Works

Response Structure

Fields

Verification Statuses

The Consultation Number

Supported Countries

Full taxId Support (VAT in profile + VIES verification)

VAT Search Only (VIES reverse lookup)

Country-Specific Notes

France

Spain

Sweden

Belgium

Countries with VIES Reverse Lookup Only

Searching by VAT Number

Best Practices