Belgian enterprise number: format and how to check it

The format: 10 digits, starting with 0 or 1

The enterprise number identifies any entity registered in Belgium: company, association, self-employed person, public body. It has 10 digits, written in three groups in the form 0xxx.xxx.xxx. The last two digits are a check key that catches typing mistakes.

The first digit is 0 or 1. As the series starting with 0 is used up, newly registered entities receive a number starting with 1, the first number of that series having been issued in 2023. A format check that only accepted 0 would therefore reject valid numbers. Companies already registered keep their number.

Before the current format became general, the number was sometimes written with 9 digits. The leading zero was added: 417.497.106 becomes 0417.497.106. A 9-digit number in a file is therefore most often a Belgian number whose zero was lost, for example by a spreadsheet.

For a check, remove dots, spaces and hyphens, count the digits, then add a zero if you find only nine. Never assume, however, that a 10-digit number belongs to Belgium: a SIREN followed by one digit or a badly split number can look like one. The country is inferred from the context, that is, the customer's address and the prefix of its VAT number.

The VAT number: BE and the enterprise number

The Belgian VAT number is formed by putting the letters BE before the enterprise number: BE0417497106. The dots are removed and the leading zero is kept: you write BE0417497106, not BE417497106. It therefore has 12 characters.

Not every company with an enterprise number is subject to VAT: a Belgian VAT number assumes the company is registered as a VAT-liable business. A number in the right format therefore does not guarantee that VAT can be charged or exempted. Checking the registration is covered in French VAT number: format and how to check it.

Establishment units

In Belgium, a company can have several establishment units: places of activity, such as shops or branches. Each has its own establishment unit number, distinct from the enterprise number. This differs from France, where an establishment's SIRET starts with the company's SIREN (see SIREN vs SIRET vs NIC: what is the difference?).

To invoice or check a Belgian company, it is the enterprise number that counts, not that of a unit. If a customer gives you a number that fails the check, it may be an establishment unit number, which has to be replaced by the company's.

A natural person working as self-employed also has an enterprise number, distinct from their personal identifier. In a customer file this is a company like any other: you check its number and status in the same way.

The most common mistakes

• a 9-digit number, without the leading zero, lost by a spreadsheet or typed by hand;
• dots or spaces copied, or the letter O instead of the zero;
• a VAT number written “BE” followed by 9 digits;
• the number of an establishment unit given instead of the company's;
• a Belgian number entered in a SIRET field: 10 digits are not an incomplete SIRET.

In each case, a format check is not enough to confirm that the company exists: see Is this company real? Checks before signing.

With Companies: a Belgian company in one call

The global identifier of a Belgian company is BE- followed by the 10 digits. Here is the record of BE-0417497106 with its address, VAT number and signals:

curl "https://companies.jsonpage.com/v2/companies/BE-0417497106?include=address,vat,signals" \
  -H "X-API-Key: $COMPANIES_API_KEY"

The record follows the same format as in France: name, status, legal form, activity, address. The local block adds the fields specific to Belgium, including the enterprise number in its usual form (0417.497.106), the denominations and the activities. The GET /v2/validate route accepts the Belgian VAT number, with or without dots, and the search-by-number route finds the company without knowing its name.

Keep reading

• VATFrench VAT number: format and how to check itThe French, Belgian and Swiss formats, the mentions on the invoice and the check before invoicing.
• VERIFICATIONIs this company real? Checks before signingA six-point checklist: identifier, status, name and address, VAT, signals and sanctions lists.
• SWITZERLANDSwiss UID (CHE) number and Swiss VAT numberThe CHE-123.456.789 format, the TVA, MWST or IVA suffix, VAT groups and how to check a Swiss company.