VIES status: live availability per member state
Short answer: This page shows whether VIES can currently check VAT numbers for each of the 27 EU member states and Northern Ireland (XI), using the European Commission's own check-status endpoint. It refreshes every 5 minutes. Status at build time (2026-10-17 10:43 UTC) is shown below and replaced by live data when the page loads.
Snapshot from 2026-10-17 10:43 UTC. Loading live status…
| Country | VIES availability | Fallback in api.wsystem.dev when down |
|---|---|---|
| AT | Available | No free automated source |
| BE | Available | No free automated source: KBO/BCE Public Search is a web UI; the open-data dump needs registration and is not a live VAT check. |
| BG | Available | No free automated source |
| CY | Available | No free automated source |
| CZ | Available | ARES (Ministry of Finance), ares.gov.cz REST |
| DE | Available | No free automated source: BZSt eVatR is free but only accepts requests from a German VAT number (USt-IdNr) as requester. |
| DK | Available | No free automated source: CVR system-to-system access requires credentials. |
| EE | Available | No free automated source |
| EL | Available | No free automated source |
| ES | Available | No free automated source: AEAT VAT/NIF census check requires an electronic certificate. |
| FI | Available | YTJ open data API (PRH / Finnish Tax Administration), avoindata.prh.fi |
| FR | Available | Recherche d'entreprises API (DINUM, SIRENE data), recherche-entreprises.api.gouv.fr |
| HR | Available | No free automated source |
| HU | Available | No free automated source: NAV Online Számla queryTaxpayer needs a NAV technical user (credentials). |
| IE | Available | No free automated source |
| IT | Available | No free automated source: Agenzia delle Entrate 'Verifica partita IVA' is a captcha-protected web form; no free public API. |
| LT | Available | No free automated source |
| LU | Available | No free automated source |
| LV | Available | No free automated source |
| MT | Available | No free automated source |
| NL | Available | No free automated source: No free public VAT check; KVK API is paid/keyed. |
| PL | Available | Biała lista podatników VAT (Ministry of Finance / KAS), wl-api.mf.gov.pl |
| PT | Available | No free automated source |
| RO | Available | No free automated source |
| SE | Available | No free automated source |
| SI | Available | No free automated source |
| SK | Available | No free automated source: Finančná správa open data is keyed / list-based; not wired. |
| XI | Available | No free automated source |
Key facts
- Data source: EC VIES REST
check-status(fieldsvow.availableand per-countryavailability: Available / Unavailable / Monitoring Disabled). - Refresh: api.wsystem.dev caches the EC response for 5 minutes; this page polls every 5 minutes.
- JSON for your own monitoring: https://api.wsystem.dev/vies/status (free).
- National fallback implemented for PL, CZ, FI, FR; explanation on VIES down fallback.
Questions and answers
Is VIES down right now?
This page reads the European Commission's own VIES check-status endpoint (through api.wsystem.dev, cached 5 minutes) and refreshes every 5 minutes while open. A country marked Unavailable cannot be checked in VIES at the moment.
What does Unavailable mean for my VAT checks?
VIES returns MS_UNAVAILABLE for numbers of that country. That means unknown, not invalid. Retry later.
Can I still check a number while its country is down?
With api.wsystem.dev: for PL, CZ, FI and FR you get a flagged answer from the official national source; for other countries the last successful VIES result for that number, dated, if we have one.
Is there an API for VIES status?
Yes: GET https://api.wsystem.dev/vies/status returns JSON (free, not counted against the free tier). The EC endpoint is https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/rest-api/check-status.
Related
Facts and competitor details checked 2026-10-17. W System Hungary Kft. is the maker of this product. Not affiliated with the European Commission. Not legal or tax advice.