VAT identification number
A value added tax identification number or VAT identification number is an identifier used in many countries, including the countries of the European Union, for value added tax purposes.
In the EU, a VAT identification number can be verified online at the EU's official VIES website. It confirms that the number is currently allocated and can provide the name or other identifying details of the entity to whom the identifier has been allocated. However, many national governments will not give out VAT identification numbers due to data protection laws.
The full identifier starts with an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code and then has between 2 and 13 characters. The identifiers are composed of numeric digits in most countries, but in some countries they may contain letters.
Foreign companies that trade with private individuals and non-business organisations in the EU may have a VATIN starting with "EU" instead of a country code, e.g. Godaddy EU826010755 and Amazon EU826009064.
From 1 January 2020 the valid VAT number of the customer is a material requirement to be able to apply the zero VAT rate for intra-Community supplies of goods in the EU. If the customer’s VAT number is not valid, 0% VAT rate cannot be applied. Companies must make sure that the VAT numbers of their customers are checked.
VAT numbers by country
European Union VAT identification numbers
| Country | Local name | Abbreviation | 2 digit prefix | Format |
| Austria | Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer | UID | AT | 'AT'+U+8 digits, – e.g. ATU99999999 |
| Belgium | BTW identificatienummer / Numéro de TVA | n° TVA BTW-nr Mwst-nr | BE | 'BE'+ 8 digits + 2 check digits – e.g. BE09999999XX. At this time no numbers starting with "1" are issued, but this can happen any time. Note that the old numbering schema only had 9 characters, separated with dots, just adding a zero in front and removing the dots makes it a valid number in the new schema. The check digits are calculated as 97 - MOD 97 |
| Bulgaria | Идентификационен номер по ДДС Identifikacionen nomer po DDS | ДДС номер | BG | 9–10 digits – e.g. BG999999999 |
| Croatia | PDV Id. Broj OIB | PDV-ID; OIB | HR | 'HR'+ 11 digit number, e.g. HR12345678901 – utilising ISO 7064, MOD 11-10 |
| Cyprus | Αριθμός Εγγραφής Φ.Π.Α. Arithmós Engraphḗs phi. pi. a. | ΦΠΑ | CY | 9 characters – e.g. CY99999999L |
| Czech Republic | Daňové identifikační číslo | DIČ | CZ | 'CZ'+8-10 digits |
| Denmark | Momsregistreringsnummer | CVR | DK | 8 digits – e.g. DK99999999, last digit is check digit |
| Estonia | Käibemaksukohustuslase number | KMKR | EE | 9 digits |
| Finland | Arvonlisäveronumero Mervärdesskattenummer | ALV nro Momsnummer | FI | FI + 7 digits + check digit, e.g. FI99999999. The check digit is calculated utilizing MOD 11-2. A VAT number can be generated from a Finnish Business ID by adding a two-letter country code FI as a prefix and by omitting the dash. |
| France | Numéro d'identification à la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée / Numéro de TVA intracommunautaire | n° TVA | FR | 'FR'+ 2 digits + 9 digits, the first and/or the second value can also be a character – e.g. FRXX999999999 The French key is calculated as follow : Key = modulo 97, for example : Key = modulo 97 = modulo 97 = 180 modulo 97 = 83 so the tax number for 404,833,048 is FR 83,404,833,048 source from : www.insee.fr |
| Germany | Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer | USt-IdNr. | DE | 9 digits, e.g. DE999999999 |
| Greece | Arithmós Forologikou Mētrṓou Αριθμός Φορολογικού Μητρώου | ΑΦΜ | EL and GR | The language code EL according to ISO 639-1, followed by 9 digits, which equal the Greek taxpayer registration number Α.Φ.Μ. of the company or of the sole proprietor, i.e.: "Arithmós Mētrṓou Phi-Pi-A" = "EL" + "A.F.M.". The last digit is a check digit inherent of the Α.Φ.Μ. Beware: Due to the great similarity of both numbers - the one being the same number as the other, just having the prefix of EL - in practice sometimes the VAT identification number is wrongly called Α.Φ.Μ., but technically the VAT identification number and the taxpayer registration number Α.Φ.Μ. are different register numbers and should not be confused. |
| Hungary | Közösségi adószám | ANUM | HU | 8 digits – e.g. HU12345678 |
| Ireland | Value added tax identification no. | VAT or CBL | IE | 'IE'+7 digits and one letter, optionally followed by a 'W' for married women, e.g. IE1234567T or IE1234567TW 'IE'+7 digits and two letters, e.g. IE1234567FA 'IE'+one digit, one letter/"+"/"*", 5 digits and one letter |
| Italy | Partita IVA | P.IVA | IT | 11 digits |
| Latvia | Pievienotās vērtības nodokļa reģistrācijas numurs | PVN | LV | 11 digits |
| Lithuania | PVM mokėtojo kodas | PVM kodas | LT | 9 or 12 digits |
| Luxembourg | Numéro d'identification à la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée | No. TVA | LU | 8 digits |
| Malta | Vat reg. no. | Vat No. | MT | 8 digits |
| Netherlands | Btw-nummer | Btw-nr. | NL | 'NL'+9 digits+B+2-digit company index – e.g. NL999999999B01 |
| Poland | numer identyfikacji podatkowej | NIP | PL | 10 digits, the last one is a check digit; for convenience the digits are separated by hyphens, but formally the number consists only of digits |
| Portugal | Número de Identificação Fiscal - for individual people / Número de Identificação de Pessoa Coletiva – for companies | NIF or NIPC | PT | 9 digits; the last digit is the check digit. The first digit depends on what the number refers to, e.g.: 1-3 are regular people, 5 are companies. |
| Romania | Codul de identificare fiscală | CIF | RO | RO + 8 digits |
| Slovakia | Identifikačné číslo pre daň z pridanej hodnoty | IČ DPH | SK | 'SK'+10 digits |
| Slovenia | Identifikacijska številka za DDV | ID za DDV | SI | 'SI'+8 digits, last one is a check digit – e.g. SI99999999 |
| Spain | Número de Identificación Fiscal | NIF | ES | For companies it's either 'ES'+letter+8 digits or 'ES'+letter+7 digits+letter. Where the first letter defines the type of company and the following first 2 digits define the province where the company was registered. The last character is a control digit. For individual people / freelancers, its either 'ES'+8 digits+letter or 'ES'+letter+7 digits+letter. e.g. ESX9999999R |
| Sweden | VAT-nummer or momsnummer or momsregistreringsnummer | Momsnr. | SE | 12 digits, of which the last two are most often 01 e.g. SE999999999901. (For sole proprietors who have several businesses the numbers can be 02, 03 and so on, since sole proprietors only have their personnummer as the organisationsnummer. The first 10 digits are the same as the Swedish organisationsnummer. |
VAT numbers of non-EU countries
| Country | Local name | Abbreviation | Country code | Format |
| Albania | Numri i Identifikimit për Personin e Tatueshëm | NIPT | AL | 10 characters, the first position following the prefix is "J" or "K" or "L", and the last character is a letter – e.g. K99999999L or L99999999G |
| North Macedonia | Едниствен Даночен Број | ЕДБ | MK | 15 characters, the first two positions are for the prefix "MK", followed by 13 numbers – e.g. MK4032013544513 |
| Australia | Australian Business Number | ABN | AU | 11 digit number formed from a 9 digit unique identifier and two prefix check digits. The two leading digits will be derived from the subsequent 9 digits using a modulus 89 check digit calculation. |
| Belarus | Учетный номер плательщика Uchetniy nomer platel'shika | УНП | BY | 9 digit number |
| Canada | Business Number Numéro d'entreprise | BN / NE | CA | 9 characters |
| Iceland | Virðisaukaskattsnúmer Value Added Tax Number | VSK / VASK | IS | 5 or 6 characters depending on age of the company |
| India | Value Added Tax - Taxpayer Identification Number / Central Sales Tax - Taxpayer Identification Number Not applicable | VAT TIN / CST TIN | IN | 11 digit number followed by V, to indicate VAT TIN. First two digits identify the state where the registration is done, e.g. 27 indicates State of Maharashtra. The system was introduced with effect from 2006-04-01. Not applicable |
| Indonesia | Nomor Pokok Wajib Pajak | NPWP | ID | 15 digit number |
| Israel | מס' עוסק מורשה / ח"פ | IL | 9 digit number. If the number of digits is less than 9, then zeros should be padded to the left side. The leftmost digit is 5 for corporations. Other leftmost digits are used for individuals. The rightmost digit is a check digit. | |
| Kazakhstan | BIN is the business identification number БСН – бизнес-сәйкестендіру нөмірі PIN is a personal identification number ЖСН – жеке сәйкестендіру нөмірі | БСН ЖСН | KZ | 12 digits |
| Monaco | Same as France | FR | ||
| New Zealand | NZ GST/IRD Number | GST/IRD | NZ | 9 digit number |
| Nigeria | Value Added Tax | VAT | NG | 12 digits in the format 01012345-0001 |
| Norway | Organisasjonsnummer Organization number | Orgnr | NO | 9 digits and the letters 'MVA' to indicate VAT registration. Last digit is a MOD11 checksum digit. |
| Philippines | Tax Identification Number | TIN | PH | 12 digit number, of which the first digit identifies type of taxpayer, second to eighth digits are sequential numbers between 0 and 9, ninth digit is a check number, last three digits are 000 for individuals and head office of businesses and 001-999 for branches of businesses, if any |
| Russia | Идентификационный номер налогоплательщика Indentifikatzionny nomer nalogoplatel'shchika | ИНН | RU | 10 digits or 12 digits, first two digits are region of birth or company registration MOD 11-10 second two- inspection. for legal personality use the changeable second code, usually first 4 digits are the same, usually and default XXXX01001. KPP is also the counter The number of KPP's is limited to number of tax inspections in regions other than 77 and 50 plus one code for the largest companies. |
| San Marino | Codice operatore economico | C.O.E. | SM | 5 digits |
| Serbia | Poreski identifikacioni broj Tax identification number | PIB | RS | 9 digits of which the first 8 are the actual ID number, and the last digit is a checksum digit, calculated according to ISO 7064, MOD 11-10 |
| Switzerland | Mehrwertsteuernummer | MWST/TVA/IVA | CH | 6 digits. CHE 9 numeric digits plus TVA/MWST/IVA e.g. CHE-123.456.788 TVA The last digit is a MOD11 checksum digit build with weighting pattern: 5,4,3,2,7,6,5,4 |
| Turkey | Vergi Kimlik Numarası | KDV | TR | 10 digits Digits can be any number between 0 and 9. If the company name starts with A, the first digit is 0; if starts with B, it is 1; if it starts with Y or Z it is 9, hence fort. |
| Ukraine | Ідентифікаційний номер платника податків Identificational tax number | ІНПП | UA | 12 digits |
| United Kingdom and Isle of Man | Value added tax registration number | VAT Reg No | GB | Country code GB followed by either:
The GD and HA formats may also be formatted as GB888 8xxx yy for EU compatibility, where xxx is the 3-digit number from the short format and yy is the 2-digit modulus-97 check number. Isle of Man registrations share the 9- and 12-digit formats with the UK, with GB as the country code prefix, but are distinguished by having 00 as the first two digits. Numbers with 01 to 09 in the first two digits are reserved by HM Revenue & Customs for UK non-VAT reference schemes. |
| Uzbekistan | Солиқ тўловчиларнинг идентификация рақами | СТИР | UZ | 9 digits Companies: 20000000Х-29999999Х People: 40000000Х-79999999Х |
VAT numbers of Latin American countries
| Country | Local name | Abbreviation | Country code | Format |
| Argentina | Código Único de Identificación Tributaria | CUIT | AR | 11 digits |
| Bolivia | Número de Identificación Tributaria | NIT | BO | 7 digits |
| Brazil | Cadastro Nacional de Pessoa Jurídica or Cadastro de Pessoa Física | CNPJ or CPF | BR | CNPJ composed of a base of 8 digits, a 4-digit radical, and 2 check digits. It is usually written like '11.111.111/0001-55' so as to be more human-readable and CPF composed of a base of 9 digits and 2 check digits written like '123.456.789-00' |
| Chile | Rol Único Tributario Unique Taxation Number | RUT | CL | 8 digits, one dash, 1 check digit |
| Colombia | Número De Identificación Tributaria | NIT | CO | 9 digits and 1 check digit |
| Costa Rica | Cédula Jurídica | CR | Personas físicas nacionales: 9 and 12 digits. It is the Cédula de Persona Física without hyphens. Personas físicas extranjeras: 10 and 12 digits. It is the NITE without hyphens. Persona jurídica: 10 and 12 digits. It is the Cédula de Persona Jurídica without hyphens. Persona extranjera : 11 and 12 digits. It is the DIMEX without hyphens. | |
| Ecuador | Número de Registro Unico de Contribuyentes | RUC | EC | 13 digits |
| El Salvador | Número de Identificación Tributaria | NIT | SV | 4 digits-DOB-3 digits-1 digit ; one digit |
| Honduras | Registro Tributario Nacional | RTN | HN | |
| Mexico | Registro Federal de Contribuyentes | RFC | MX | Natural: 4 digits, 6 numbers, 3 digits Companies: 3 digits, 6 numbers, 3 digits |
| Nicaragua | Registro Unico de Contribuyentes | RUC | NI | 3 digits, 1 dash, 6 digits, 1 dash, 4 digits followed by 1 letter, |
| Panama | Registro Unico de Contribuyentes | RUC | PA | |
| Paraguay | Registro Unico de Contribuyentes | RUC | PY | 6 to 8 digits, 1 dash, 1 check sum digit |
| Peru | Registro Unico de Contribuyentes | RUC | PE | 11 digits |
| Dominican Republic | Registro Nacional del Contribuyente | RNC | DO | Legal People: 11 digits without hyphen. Companies: 9 digits without hyphen. |
| Uruguay | Registro Único Tributario | RUT | UY | 12 digits |
| Venezuela | Registro de Informacion Fiscal | RIF | VE | First digit must be, one dash, next 9 numbers like J-305959918, in some cases can be written like J-30595991-8 |