What the intra-community VAT number is for
The VAT number identifies a VAT-registered business in trade between European Union countries. It must appear on its invoices, its main administrative documents, its VAT returns and its intra-community trade declarations. On an invoice you find the seller's number, and the customer's when the customer is liable for the tax, for example for an exempt intra-community supply or a reverse-charge transaction.
In France, a VAT-registered business has nothing to do: its tax office assigns the number when it is registered. The Service-Public page “Intra-community VAT number” (in French) covers special cases, such as businesses that are not subject to VAT.
The format in France, Belgium and Switzerland
| Country | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|
| France | FR + 2 key characters + SIREN (9 digits) | FR14652014051 |
| Belgium | BE + enterprise number (10 digits, starting with 0 or 1) | BE0417497106 |
| Switzerland | CHE + UID (9 digits) + TVA, MWST or IVA | CHE-105.909.036 TVA |
- France: the key is in practice two digits. It is tied to the SIREN, which makes it possible to spot a VAT number that does not match the company announced. The VAT number is always based on the SIREN, never on a SIRET.
- Belgium: the VAT number reuses the enterprise number, often called the BCE number, preceded by BE. The dots of the official form (0417.497.106) are not part of the number. The last two digits are a check key.
- Switzerland: Switzerland is not in the European Union, so its VAT number is not an intra-community number. It is written with the company identification number (UID), followed by TVA in French, MWST in German or IVA in Italian. A company that belongs to a VAT group invoices with the group's number, which is not its own UID.
British (GB) numbers have no longer been intra-community numbers since the United Kingdom left the European Union.
Why check the number before invoicing
A well-formed VAT number can be wrong in several ways: never issued, deactivated because the business stopped trading, or belonging to a company other than your customer. The consequences hit the invoice directly:
- Intra-community supply: the VAT exemption assumes the customer holds a valid VAT number in another member state and that it appears on the invoice. Without it, the exemption can be challenged and the VAT claimed from the seller.
- Reverse charge: quoting the customer's number justifies the tax being due by them; a wrong number weakens this treatment.
- Rejected or disputed invoice: a number that does not match the customer's SIREN raises doubts about who the recipient is, especially now that the customer's SIREN is mandatory (see France e-invoicing 2026).
The right moment to check is when you create the customer record, then before a first large invoice or a first delivery abroad. Checking is not a one-off formality: a business can stop trading, and its number with it.
The most common mistakes
- a SIRET instead of the SIREN after FR, which gives a number that is too long;
- the letter O instead of the digit 0, or spaces and dots copied as they are;
- the number of another company in the group, often the parent company;
- for Switzerland, the UID of the company when it invoices with the number of its VAT group;
- a 9-digit Belgian number, the old form of the enterprise number, which needs a leading 0.
With Companies: the number checked in one call
The GET /v2/validate route accepts a French, Belgian or Swiss VAT number, with or without spaces, dots and hyphens. The number alone is enough: Companies works out the company.
curl "https://companies.jsonpage.com/v2/validate?vat=FR14652014051" \
-H "X-API-Key: $COMPANIES_API_KEY"The response details each check: format of the number and supported country, existence of the company, active company and registration of the number (vat_registered), then the company's basic record with its address. Add id=FR-652014051 to also check that the VAT number matches your customer's SIREN.
On a company record, the include=vat block adds the VAT number and its status: valid, invalid, pending (check in progress, ask again a few seconds later) or not_verified. For a Swiss company that belongs to a VAT group, the group's number is returned. For a whole file, enrichment in your account area adds the vat_number and vat_status columns to each row.
Frequently asked questions
How many characters does a French VAT number have?+
Thirteen: the letters FR, two key characters and the 9 digits of the SIREN, for example FR14652014051.
Does Switzerland have an intra-community VAT number?+
No. Switzerland is not a member of the European Union. Its companies have a Swiss VAT number made of the UID (CHE-123.456.789) followed by TVA, MWST or IVA.
Is the Belgian VAT number the enterprise number?+
Yes: it is the 10-digit enterprise number preceded by BE, for example BE0417497106.
Is a VAT number in the right format always valid?+
No. It may never have been issued, may have been deactivated or may belong to another company. You need to check that it is registered and that it matches your customer.
Can I check several VAT numbers at once?+
Yes. In your Companies account area, enrichment completes a CSV file of VAT, SIREN or SIRET numbers with the status of each number.
Keep reading
- E-INVOICINGFrance e-invoicing 2026: why your customers' SIREN becomes mandatoryThe four new mandatory mentions, the 2026-2027 timeline and how to verify your customers' SIREN numbers.
- SIRENWhat is a SIREN number and how to find itThe 9-digit format, who gets one, where it appears and how to find a company's SIREN from its name.
- SIREN · SIRETSIREN vs SIRET vs NIC: what is the difference?The company and its establishments: 9 or 14 digits, the role of the NIC and the right number for each use.