To check a supplier in another EU country, start with its VAT number. Enter it in VIES, the European Commission’s VAT check, to see whether the number is valid for trade between EU countries. Then look the company up in its national business register, which shows whether it is registered and under what name and address.
In short
- Check the VAT number in VIES. For a GB number, use HMRC’s Check a UK VAT number service.
- Find the company in its national business register and compare the name and address.
- Look for the red flags below, and keep a record of each check before you pay.
Step 1: Check the VAT number in VIES
VIES is the European Commission’s own service. It is a search tool, not a database: it asks the national VAT database of the country you choose and shows the answer. The site is available in 23 EU languages.
What a valid result tells you
A valid result means the number is registered in that country’s VAT database for trade between EU countries. Some countries also show the name and address of the business. Others show neither, because that country does not allow it. So a blank name field is not a warning sign on its own.
If you enter your own VAT number as the requester, the reply carries a consultation number. Keep it: it records that you checked that number at that time.
What it does not tell you
- It does not prove you are dealing with that company. A valid number can be copied from someone else’s invoice.
- It does not tell you who owns or runs the business. For that, use the national register below.
- It may lag. Changes do not always reach the national databases, and so VIES, straight away.
If the number shows as invalid
An invalid result has three possible causes:
- the number does not exist
- it has not been activated for trade between EU countries
- the registration is not finished yet.
Ask the supplier to confirm the number with their own tax office before you pay.
UK and Northern Ireland numbers
Since 1 January 2021, VIES no longer checks UK numbers that start with GB. It checks Northern Ireland numbers, which start with XI; choose “XI-Northern Ireland” in the country menu. Check a GB number with HMRC’s Check a UK VAT number service, which shows the name and address the number is registered to.
Step 2: Find the company in its national register
The VAT check tells you a number is live. The business register tells you the company exists, and what it is called and where. To search several countries at once, the EU’s e-Justice Portal has a Find a company search that covers registers in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. It only returns what each national register gives out free. For more detail, go to the national register.
Germany
Register: Handelsregister (common register portal) and Unternehmensregister
What you can see free: Register information from the register courts, including current and historical prints and filed documents, has been free since 1 August 2022. Filed annual accounts still cost a fee.
Language: Register portal: German, English, Spanish, French and Italian. Unternehmensregister: German.
France
Register: Annuaire des Entreprises (the state’s company search, which now carries the Sirene data) and Infogreffe
What you can see free: Sirene company data can be viewed and downloaded in the Annuaire des Entreprises. Infogreffe shows some company information free; extracts from the register cost a fee set by the state.
Language: Infogreffe: French and English.
Italy
Register: Registro delle Imprese, run by the Chambers of Commerce
What you can see free: A search by name, with a limited set of details such as name and address. Complete information is paid for.
Language: Italian. The paid company report (visura) is also sold in English.
Spain
Register: Registro Mercantil, and its official gazette BORME
What you can see free: Access to the Registro Mercantil is not free. A company information note is priced by the blocks of data it contains and arrives online straight away. BORME notices are published on the BOE website.
Language: BOE website: Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Basque, Valencian, English and French.
Netherlands
Register: KVK Business Register
What you can see free: A search by name, address or KVK number. An extract or financial statements cost money.
Language: Dutch and English.
Ireland
Register: Companies Registration Office (CRO), searched through CORE
What you can see free: Basic company information, such as the address, date of incorporation and date of the last annual return. Other information, including full company profiles, costs a fee.
Language: English
Denmark
Register: Central Business Register (CVR), on Virk
What you can see free: CVR data is public: the CVR number, name and address, start and end dates, company form, industry, contact details, staff numbers, and owners and management. Documents and services that need no manual work are free.
Language: Danish, with English guidance from the Danish Business Authority.
Norway
Register: Brønnøysundregistrene: the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities
What you can see free: A search by organisation number or name. A certificate of registration and a register transcript download free, in Norwegian or English.
Language: Norwegian and English.
Czechia
Register: Public register (obchodní rejstřík) and ARES
What you can see free: Searches and certified copies from the public register website are free. ARES, run by the Ministry of Finance, combines data from several registers; its results are for information only and are not official evidence.
Language: Public register: Czech.
Estonia
Register: e-Business Register (Äriregister)
What you can see free: Data on any company, without logging in or signing a contract. Only documents from the files of non-profit associations are charged.
Language: Estonian and English.
Norway is not in the EU, so VIES does not cover it. Check a Norwegian supplier in Brønnøysundregistrene.
Step 3: Watch for red flags with cross-border suppliers
These signs deserve a second look before you pay.
- A bank account in a third country. The company is registered in one country, but the invoice asks you to pay into an account in another. Ask why. Then confirm the bank details by phone, on a number you found yourself in the register or on the supplier’s website, not the one on the invoice.
- A VAT number that belongs to a different name. If VIES shows a name that does not match the company you are dealing with, stop and ask. If VIES shows no name for that country, your own tax administration can confirm whether a name and address go with the number.
- A number that is valid but new. Compare the VAT check with the register. A company that claims years of trading should have a register record that shows it.
- Changed details by email. A message saying the supplier’s bank, address or VAT number has changed should be confirmed by phone before you act on it.
- A bill that claims to come from a register. Germany’s company register warns that demands for payment to retrieve company data are fraud. The Danish Business Authority says it collects fees only through a company’s digital mailbox, and that fee demands by email are phishing.
Keep a record of each check
- The date
- The VIES consultation number
- A copy of the register page
It takes a few minutes and answers most questions later.
Where Enterprise League fits
No EU business register feeds Enterprise League profiles yet. Our profiles are built from public sources, and most have not yet been claimed by the company itself. Use them to find and compare suppliers, then confirm each one in VIES and the national register before you pay.
Find suppliers in other countries
Search company profiles by country and sector in the Enterprise League business directory. It is free to browse.
