Format and check letter, offline
VAT number check for Ireland and the EU
Paste a VAT number and we check its shape straight away, in your browser. For Irish numbers we also run the check letter, so a typo shows up before the invoice goes out. Then confirm registration on VIES with one click.
Ireland: 7 digits + 1 or 2 letters. Type it with or without the country prefix.
Enter a number to check the format offline. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Three answers
The bit that catches people out
Well formed
The digits and the check letter agree. This is arithmetic, so it is certain, and it catches almost every typo. It says nothing about whether the business exists.
Registered on VIES
The European Commission confirms the number is active for intra-EU trade. This is what you need before zero-rating a supply, and it gives you a consultation number to keep on file.
Domestic only
Revenue can register a business for Irish trade without intra-EU status. That number is perfectly real, works on Irish invoices, and will never show up in VIES.
So “not found in VIES” has two possible meanings, and most checkers online only tell you one of them. Read Revenue’s own page on two-tier VAT registration if a supplier insists their number is fine.
Reference
VAT number formats across the EU
Every member state writes them differently. The country prefix is part of the number when you use it for intra-EU trade.
- IEIreland7 digits + 1 or 2 letters
- ATAustriaU + 8 digits
- BEBelgium10 digits
- BGBulgaria9 or 10 digits
- CYCyprus8 digits + 1 letter
- CZCzechia8 to 10 digits
- DEGermany9 digits
- DKDenmark8 digits
- EEEstonia9 digits
- ELGreece9 digits
- ESSpain9 characters
- FIFinland8 digits
- FRFrance11 characters
- HRCroatia11 digits
- HUHungary8 digits
- ITItaly11 digits
- LTLithuania9 or 12 digits
- LULuxembourg8 digits
- LVLatvia11 digits
- MTMalta8 digits
- NLNetherlands9 digits + B + 2 digits
- PLPoland10 digits
- PTPortugal9 digits
- RORomania2 to 10 digits
- SESweden12 digits
- SISlovenia8 digits
- SKSlovakia10 digits
- XINorthern Ireland9 digits
More tools
While you are here
VAT calculator 2026 →
Add or remove VAT at any Irish rate, with the net, VAT and gross shown side by side.
How to register for VAT →
Thresholds, the two tiers, what Revenue asks for and how long it takes.
VAT3 return guide →
Filling the boxes, deadlines and the common mistakes that trigger a query.
VAT rates in Ireland 2026 →
All five rates with examples from the Revenue tables, and the edge cases.
Questions
Questions about VAT numbers
How do I check if an Irish VAT number is valid?
There are two separate questions. Is the number itself well formed, and is the business registered for intra-EU trade. The checker above answers the first one instantly and offline, because Irish VAT numbers carry a check letter that has to match the digits. For the second, use the link through to the European Commission’s VIES service.
How do I find a company’s VAT number in Ireland?
There is no public Revenue directory you can search by business name, and VIES only confirms a number you already have. The reliable places are the company’s own invoices, quotes and website footer, which must show the VAT number once the business is registered. Ask the supplier for it, then run it through the check above and VIES before you rely on it.
Why does a real Irish VAT number come back as invalid on VIES?
Because Revenue runs two-tier registration. A business can hold a domestic-only registration, which is enough for trading inside Ireland and with countries outside the EU, and those numbers never appear in VIES. Only intra-EU registrations are published there. So a VIES miss can mean the number is wrong, or it can simply mean the business has not applied for intra-EU status.
What does the Irish check letter do?
It is arithmetic. The seven digits are weighted, added up, and the remainder picks a letter from a fixed list. Change one digit and the letter no longer matches, which is how a typo in an invoice gets caught before you send it. Our checker runs that same calculation.
What format is an Irish VAT number?
Seven digits followed by one or two letters, for example 1234567FA. Older registrations can look different, with a letter or a plus sign in second position. Both shapes are accepted above.
Do I need to check a customer’s VAT number before zero-rating?
Yes. For zero-rated intra-EU supplies you need a valid VIES-registered number for the customer, and Revenue expects you to have verified it. Keep the consultation number that VIES gives you as evidence with the invoice.
Can I check numbers from other EU countries?
Format-wise, yes: pick the country from the list and we check the shape against that member state’s published pattern. There are 28 countries in the list, including Northern Ireland. Only Ireland has an offline check letter here, so for the others the format is all we can confirm without VIES.
Is anything sent to a server when I check a number?
No. The format and check-letter test runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is logged, stored or transmitted. The only outbound step is the optional link to VIES, which you choose to click.
Where the figures come from
Sources and method
Every rate on this site was checked against the pages below on 6 October 2026, and an automated check compares our rates with the Revenue tables every week. We compute VAT the way Revenue does: adding VAT multiplies the net by (1 + rate), removing VAT divides the gross by (1 + rate), and every figure is rounded half-up to the cent.
Other VAT tools
Running a small business? We also built an invoice generator, a percentage calculator and a VRT calculator for imported cars.