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Check UID Number

VIES · EU Commission · Name & Address · Free

Get a consultation number as proof (optional)

If you enter your own UID, VIES issues a consultation number: a unique reference proving that you checked this UID at this time. Your UID is only passed to VIES and not stored.

Checking against VIES...

This check is a simple confirmation (Stufe 1) via VIES. For the qualified confirmation (Stufe 2) that Austrian businesses retain as audit-proof evidence for tax-free intra-community supplies, run the query in FinanzOnline and keep the printout (§ 132 BAO). How the two levels differ →

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Simple vs. qualified confirmation (Stufe 1 and Stufe 2)

Checking a UID before invoicing an EU business client is not a formality: a valid UID is the precondition for tax-free intra-community supplies and the standard proof of business status for reverse-charge invoices. Austrian law knows two confirmation levels (Art 28 UStG). The simple confirmation (Stufe 1) only verifies that a UID is valid. The qualified confirmation (Stufe 2) verifies the UID together with a specific name and address, and is the level recommended for new business relationships. Austrian businesses run it via FinanzOnline and keep the printout as evidence under § 132 BAO.

The consultation number: proof of your VIES check

VIES issues a consultation number (Konsultationsnummer) when you run the check with your own UID as requester. It is a unique EU-issued reference documenting that you verified a specific UID on a specific date. Enter your own UID in the optional field above and note the number together with the result - most free checkers skip this entirely.

Why is a UID shown as invalid?

An invalid result does not always mean the business does not exist. The most common reasons:

  • The UID was issued recently and is not yet in the member state's VIES data.
  • A typo or format error - e.g. a missing country prefix like ATU or DE, or spaces and dots inside the number.
  • The business has no UID registered for intra-community transactions (some member states issue separate local tax numbers).
  • The member state's database is temporarily unavailable - VIES has regular per-country maintenance windows.

Want the full picture on when which confirmation level is required? Read our guide to the UID confirmation procedure →

Results come directly from VIES, the VAT information exchange system of the EU Commission, which relays data from the national VAT databases. No liability is assumed for the correctness of the data. This check is a simple confirmation and does not replace the qualified confirmation (Stufe 2) via FinanzOnline.

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