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Verify your counterparty

Before you pay a new supplier or take on a new customer, three checks matter: is the VAT number real (VIES), is any name on a sanctions list, and does the EORI check out. The official tools do one at a time — this page does them together. Nothing is stored; the checks run when you click.

Verification says the registration exists and the name is clean on these lists today. It does not say the company is solvent, honest, or who stands behind it — that is the part no database answers.

The checks

Fill in what you have — name, VAT, or both — and press Verify.

EORI: the EU’s EORI validation service has no open interface — check an EORI on the official page: EU EORI validation. An EORI says a trader is registered for customs; it says nothing about sanctions or VAT.

What each check really tells you

VAT valid in VIES

The number is registered and active for intra-EU trade today, and when the member state publishes it, the registered name and city come back. An invalid number with an invoice attached is the classic sign of a missing-trader fraud — or of a typo; check the spelling first.
Source: VIES, European Commission VAT Information Exchange System. Checked: 3 September 2026.

"Invalid" does not always mean invalid

VIES answers for one member state at a time, and when that country's system is down it cannot answer at all. The service returns MS_UNAVAILABLE (301), SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE (300) or TIMEOUT (302) — none of which means the number is wrong. Tools that fold those into "invalid" reject sound counterparties during routine maintenance.
Source: VIES checkVat service status codes: 201 INVALID_INPUT, 300 SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE, 301 MS_UNAVAILABLE, 302 TIMEOUT. Checked: 3 September 2026.

Name not on the sanctions lists

The name as spelled did not appear in six lists covering 133,000 name variants on the date shown. Read the sanctions page for what that does and does not mean — transliteration, ownership above 50%, and list changes are the three gaps.
Source: EU, UN, OFAC, UK, Swiss and Canadian sanctions lists, daily refreshed. Checked: 3 September 2026.