VAT Lookup: The European VAT Lookup API

As of 1st January 2015 the rules governing how companies should charge VAT on digital services changed. Rather than charging VAT at the rate of the company providing the service, as were the previous rules, companies must charge the VAT rate applicable to the location of the customer.

These new rules present a number of challenges for businesses trading digital services, especially those selling online. One difficulty is determining the current correct rate of VAT to charge customers once their country has been identified. This is the problem that the VAT Rate Lookup API seeks to address.

This site provides two VAT lookup APIs. Both are simple JSON based APIs which can be consumed by a number of different programming languages. Full documentation of the rate API can be seen here and documentation for the VAT number API can be seen here.

VAT Lookup is an unofficial service offered on a best effort basis to assist companies trading digitally across the EU. Data contained in the API is taken from European Commission documents, but absolutely no guarantee is given as to the accuracy of the data. We accept no responsibility for the outcome of using the data.