Validate Irish VAT numbers (VAT registration number) against the EU VIES service. Paste one number or a whole list below: every entry is format-checked for Ireland (IE + 7 digits + 1 or 2 letters (older numbers: digit, letter, 5 digits, letter)) before it is sent to VIES.
Irish VAT numbers are issued by the Revenue Commissioners (Revenue). Unlike most EU numbers, they combine digits and letters: the current format is seven digits followed by one or two letters, and newer registrations end in two letters.
An older format is still in use as well: a digit, a letter (or + or *), five digits and a final letter. Both formats are accepted by justaxit and checked through VIES.
The first letter after the seven digits is a check character calculated from the rest of the number, and in the newer two-letter format the second letter is part of the number as well, so both letters have to be copied exactly. For sole traders the VAT number is typically based on their Personal Public Service Number (PPSN), which has the same shape of 7 digits plus letters.
Companies are registered with the Companies Registration Office (CRO), whose company numbers are purely numeric, while VAT registration is handled by Revenue. Because the two registers are separate, a company can exist in the CRO register without being registered for VAT.
Paste your Irish numbers into the validator above, one per line, each starting with IE. Spaces, dots and hyphens are removed automatically, and lower-case letters are converted to upper case.
justaxit first checks each entry against the Ireland format (IE + 7 digits + 1 or 2 letters (older numbers: digit, letter, 5 digits, letter)). Numbers with the wrong shape are flagged immediately and are not sent to VIES. Well-formed numbers are then checked through VIES, which asks the Ireland tax administration whether the number is currently valid for intra-EU transactions.
Each result shows valid or invalid, plus the name and address when the member state shares them through VIES. If the national service is temporarily unavailable, the number is marked for retry rather than reported as invalid. Registered users can save lists and export results to CSV, Excel or PDF.
IE followed by 7 digits and 1 or 2 letters, for example IE1234567T or IE1234567WA. Some older numbers use the pattern IE1A23456B.
The letters at the end are part of the number. A number with only digits after IE is incomplete.
No. The CRO number identifies the company in the companies register; the VAT number is issued separately by Revenue.
For many sole traders the VAT number is based on their PPS number, with IE in front. Companies receive their own tax reference number from Revenue, which is not their CRO number.