The VIES system, also known as ‘VIES Authorisation’, is a tax data and information exchange system between the member states of the European Union.
VIES stands for ‘VAT Information Exchange System’, of which VAT stands for ‘Value Added Tax’.
VIES is a tool established by the Community tax legislation which aims to tackle fraud, evasion and avoidance, and allows the automatic exchange of information between the tax authorities of the EU member states in order to verify the existence and validity of a Community VAT number.
There is an obligation to register on VIES so that all natural or legal persons and entities are assigned a NIF (tax identification number) for VAT and, in general, so that they make deliveries or purchases of goods within the European Union.
Registration on the VIES census is free and must be done directly by the tax payer through the Spanish Tax Agency .
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Valid VAT Code
The VAT identification number entered is formally correct and corresponds to an authorised operator for intra-community purposes,
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Invalid or Incorrect VAT Code
The VAT identification number entered seems to be ‘invalid’, since it’s not listed in the database of authorised subjects, or formally incorrect, i.e., it doesn’t conform to the algorithm provided by the selected member state.
For more information, we invite you to visit the European Commission portal aimed at validating VAT numbers on VIES.