French VAT number check

The format

You can paste the number with spaces, dots or dashes; the checker removes them.

What it's called

Numéro d'identification à la TVA, usually called numéro de TVA intracommunautaire.

The number is FR, a 2-character key and the company's 9-digit SIREN. It is built from the SIREN, never from the 14-digit SIRET (SIREN plus an establishment code).

Registered, but invalid in VIES?

VAT-liable businesses get the number automatically from their tax office. Small businesses under the franchise en base have to ask for one, for example when they buy or sell B2B services across the EU.

What trips people up

• If a French supplier gives you 14 digits, that's the SIRET. Take the first 9 (the SIREN) and ask for the full VAT number with its key.
• A SIREN alone doesn't prove VAT registration: a small business under the franchise en base may have no VAT number.

Other ways to check

VIES is the check to rely on for cross-border trade. The number is issued by DGFiP, through the business's Service des impôts des entreprises (SIE); if a correct number keeps showing invalid, the business has to take it up with them.

Sources

Formats from the European Commission's VIES FAQ, checked 16 October 2026. Rules can change; the tax authority's own guidance wins.

• European Commission, VIES FAQ: VAT identification number structure
• impots.gouv.fr, identification numbers
• economie.gouv.fr, the intra-community VAT number
• European Commission, 'VAT number' in the EU languages (annex)