# EU VAT Validator — VIES per-answer check (`nexgenwatch/eu-vat-validator`) Actor

- **URL**: https://apify.com/nexgenwatch/eu-vat-validator.md
- **Developed by:** [NexGen Watch](https://apify.com/nexgenwatch) (community)
- **Categories:** Business
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $33.50 / 1,000 completed vat answers

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## EU VAT Validator — VIES per-answer check

Validate EU VAT identifiers against the **official European Commission VIES service**
(`ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies`). Give it a list of VAT numbers; get back, for
each, whether the number is registered, the trader name and address VIES returns, and
the official request date and identifier — the evidence a finance or onboarding team
needs to prove a counterparty's VAT status.

### Input

A list of VAT identifiers, each as a 2-letter country code plus the number
(`IE6388047V`, `DE811128135`). Greece uses `EL`. Spaces are ignored.

```json
{ "vatNumbers": ["IE6388047V", "DE811128135", "LU26375245"] }
```

### What is and is not an answer

A **completed answer** is one VIES resolved — whether the number is **valid** or
**invalid**. Both are answers you came for and both are billed. A **member-state
outage** (VIES reachable but that country's registry is temporarily down), an
unparseable id, or a network error is **not** an answer and is **not** billed; those
rows are returned in the "issues" view with a reason. If a run resolves *no* answer at
all, it fails loud and charges nothing.

### Pricing

| Event | FREE | BRONZE | SILVER | GOLD+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actor start (`apify-actor-start`) | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.02 |
| Completed VAT answer (`vat-answer`) | $0.05 | $0.045 | $0.04 | $0.0335 |

Prices are the filed pay-per-event amounts per plan tier (PLATINUM/DIAMOND match GOLD).
`apify-actor-start` is the reserved one-time platform charge. A number VIES reports as
invalid **is** a completed answer and **is** charged; outages and unparseable inputs are
not.

### Source & pacing

Official EU VIES REST API, queried anonymously (no key). The actor paces itself at
2 requests/second with a contact User-Agent, and bounds a run to 200 numbers.

# Actor input Schema

## `vatNumbers` (type: `array`):

EU VAT identifiers to validate against the official EU VIES service, e.g. IE6388047V (2-letter country code + number). Greece uses EL. A completed answer (valid OR invalid) is billed; a member-state service outage is not billed.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "vatNumbers": [
    "IE6388047V",
    "DE811128135",
    "LU26375245"
  ]
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "vatNumbers": [
        "IE6388047V",
        "DE811128135",
        "LU26375245"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("nexgenwatch/eu-vat-validator").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "vatNumbers": [
        "IE6388047V",
        "DE811128135",
        "LU26375245",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("nexgenwatch/eu-vat-validator").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "vatNumbers": [
    "IE6388047V",
    "DE811128135",
    "LU26375245"
  ]
}' |
apify call nexgenwatch/eu-vat-validator --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=nexgenwatch/eu-vat-validator",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/xbZs45UTP2V3D8WP2/builds/CnpfLDNgwdw6XmIMf/openapi.json