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How to verify an EU VAT number on VIES, look up a GLEIF LEI and check a company register in one workflow

Before issuing a zero-rated reverse-charge invoice or onboarding a European vendor, finance and compliance teams check whether the VAT number is active in VIES, whether the company holds an active Legal Entity Identifier (LEI), and what the national register lists for its legal form and address. Some developer libraries only test the check digits of a VAT string without asking the tax register at all. This guide walks through real VIES, GLEIF and Norwegian register checks with EU Business & VAT Checker and compares it against two rival VAT tools.

By OpenKrill. Published 2026-10-20. Every VAT check, LEI record and registry lookup below comes from live calls to EU Business & VAT Checker (eubusiness.openkrill.app), the European Commission VIES API, the GLEIF Global LEI Index and Norway's Brønnøysund Register Centre between 06:17 and 07:18 UTC on 2026-10-20.

The short answer

Open the EU VAT Checker and Company Registers page or connect https://eubusiness.openkrill.app/mcp to your assistant. Call check_vat_number to verify an EU or Northern Ireland VAT number against VIES, find_company_lei to query the GLEIF Global LEI Index, lookup_company_registry to search the French Sirene or Norwegian Enhetsregisteret register, or company_from_domain to resolve a company website to its registered legal entity.

What our VIES VAT check returned for IE6388047V

We tested Irish VAT number IE6388047V across our server and three competing VAT tools on 2026-10-20. In 1,453 ms, check_vat_number queried the European Commission VIES service and returned:

  • Status: valid: true, checked at 2026-10-20T06:17:06.520Z
  • Registered legal name: GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED
  • Registered address: 3RD FLOOR, GORDON HOUSE, BARROW STREET, DUBLIN 4
  • Source and audit note: Names the European Commission VIES source and notes that if you need a VIES consultation number as tax-audit proof, you pass your own VAT number with the check.

How EU Business & VAT Checker compared with rivals

ToolResult on IE6388047VWall timeScore
OpenKrill EU Business & VAT Checkervalid: true, GOOGLE IRELAND LIMITED, Dublin 4 address, ISO check timestamp, VIES source attribution and consultation-number guidance1,453 ms10.0 / 10
VATComply API (api.vatcomply.com)Returned the same valid status, legal name and address, but omitted the data source and the check timestamp1,084 ms9.5 / 10
jsvat (npm 2.5.4)Ran offline checksum math in 11 ms: returned isValid: true and isValidFormat: true without contacting VIES, so it cannot tell if a number was deregistered and returns no company name or address11 ms + local install6.6 / 10
Vatstack API (vatstack.com)Not run: requires an account and API keynot runnot run

Finding a company's LEI, national registry record and domain identity

A VAT check confirms tax registration, while GLEIF and national registers confirm legal form, registration numbers and headcount:

  • GLEIF Legal Entity Identifier lookup (find_company_lei). Searching name: "Siemens AG" matched 28 records in the GLEIF Global LEI Index and ranked the closest legal-name matches first: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft (LEI W38RGI023J3WT1HWRP32, status ACTIVE and ISSUED, Munich, commercial register HRB 6684 at RA000304, last updated 2026-09-01, next renewal 2027-10-25), followed by Wohlfahrtsfonds der Siemens Schweiz AG (529900A2XKDE9KOXYE50, Zurich) and Siemens Healthineers International AG (8945006H4904GK255B88, Steinhausen).
  • National company register search (lookup_company_registry). Searching Norway's Enhetsregisteret with country: "NO" and query: "Equinor" matched 179 legal entities and returned EQUINOR ASA first: organisation number 923609016, active status, legal form ASA (Allmennaksjeselskap), registered 1995-03-12, founded 1972-09-18, address Forusbeen 50, 4035 STAVANGER, Norge, NACE activity 06.100 Utvinning av råolje, and 21,231 employees.
  • Resolving a website domain (company_from_domain). Passing domain: "equinor.com" cross-checked the company's own legal pages, Wikidata (Q1776022), GLEIF, Enhetsregisteret (923609016) and Verisign RDAP, returning confirmed confidence on every field and distinguishing the company's 1972 founding date (54 years old) from the domain registration date (2011-06-15).

Connect it to your AI client

Add https://eubusiness.openkrill.app/mcp to your assistant, or follow the client install guides for ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor and Pi. The 3 multi-step KYB recipes are downloadable as eu-business-jobs/SKILL.md.

Here is the JSON-RPC call from our VIES check:

{"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"check_vat_number",
 "arguments":{"country":"IE","vatNumber":"6388047V"}}}

What to watch out for in EU VAT and KYB checks

  • Relying on regex or checksum libraries for tax compliance. A package like jsvat only checks whether a string fits a country's digit formula; only a live VIES query tells you whether the tax authority lists the number as active today.
  • Expecting every EU member state to return a company name on VIES. Some member states, including Germany and Spain, do not release the trader's name or address through the public VIES lookup. Pair VIES with find_company_lei or a register check when you need the legal name and address.
  • Privacy rules on sole proprietors. To protect personal data, our server leaves sole proprietors out of registry results and withholds VIES names that lack a corporate legal-form marker (such as GmbH, SA, SRL or Limited).

Frequently asked questions

How do I check if an EU VAT number is valid and which company it belongs to?

Call check_vat_number on eubusiness.openkrill.app/mcp with the two-letter country code (such as IE, FR or XI for Northern Ireland) and the VAT number without the country prefix. The tool queries the European Commission VIES database in real time and returns whether the number is active, the check timestamp, and the legal entity's name and address when the member state publishes them.

Is there a free API to validate VAT numbers against VIES?

Yes. Both the European Commission's VIES REST endpoint and OpenKrill's EU Business & VAT Checker MCP server (https://eubusiness.openkrill.app/mcp) validate VAT numbers against VIES for free with no API key.

How can I find a company's LEI or registry entry from its name or website?

Call find_company_lei with the company name to search the GLEIF Global LEI Index, lookup_company_registry to search the French Sirene or Norwegian Enhetsregisteret register, or company_from_domain with a website domain such as equinor.com to combine register, GLEIF, Wikidata and domain RDAP records in one call.

How do I get a VIES consultation number for a tax audit?

Pass your own VAT country code and number alongside the customer's VAT number in check_vat_number so VIES issues an official consultation identifier for the check.

Sources