VIES check
How the VAT number is checked against the European service, what is prefilled and what each result means.
VIES is the European Commission service that confirms a VAT number is valid in its member state. Novadesko queries it from the customer form, and in the same way from the supplier form, for two reasons: to avoid typos in a number that will appear on your invoices, and to fill in the record without retyping.
What you will do
- Enter the VAT number and read the result of the lookup.
- Let the record complete itself with the VIES data.
- Understand the error cases and what they mean for invoicing.
Run the check
- In Create customer, choose Company.
- Enter the number in VAT number, country prefix included (BE0123456789). Spaces and dots are ignored.
- The check starts on its own 0.8 seconds after typing, as soon as the number has at least 9 characters. The Check button runs it again on demand.
- Read the status line at the top of the form and the text under the field.
| Status line | Meaning |
|---|---|
| VIES lookup | No check in progress. |
| « Analyse VIES en cours... » (VIES lookup in progress) | Querying the service. |
| Valid VAT number · Name | Number confirmed, followed by the official name. Under the field: "Valid VAT number (VIES)". |
| « Numéro de TVA introuvable sur VIES » (VAT number not found on VIES) | The service reports that the number is not valid. |
| « VIES indisponible pour le moment » (VIES unavailable for now) | The service did not respond. |
What is prefilled
When the number is valid, the fields still empty receive the data returned by VIES: Company name, Full address, Postal code, City and Country (derived from the number's prefix). A field already filled in is never overwritten, so you can correct before or after the check. The type switches to Company if it was not already.
If the prefix designates a European Union country other than Belgium, the « Client intracommunautaire » (intra-Community customer) box is ticked automatically. The customer then appears in Intracommunity Customer Listing.
- Enter the VAT number with its country prefix.
- Click Verify.
- The status line confirms the number is valid in VIES.
- The company name is filled in automatically.
- The address returned by VIES is filled in as well.
On web.novadesko.com, the lookup combines VIES and CompanySearch (directory of Belgian companies). The data found is offered in the Company information retrieved window with the Apply and Ignore buttons; nothing is changed until you click Apply.
Number not found or service unavailable
- Number not found: check the format (country prefix followed by the digits, without the word "TVA"), then check that the business is actually VAT-registered. A Belgian company number exists at the CBE without necessarily being activated for VAT; in that case VIES does not know it.
- VIES unavailable: national services experience outages. Saving remains possible; run Check again later from Edit.
- Number already in use: the message comes from the duplicate check, not from VIES. See Duplicates.
A number that is valid on VIES does not spare you from choosing the right VAT regime on the record. For a European Union customer, the regime and the Legal exemption article determine the wording printed on your invoices; they are not derived from the check.
And for suppliers
The supplier form uses the same lookup, with the same prefilled fields. See Suppliers: VIES and duplicates.