GB VAT numbers will no longer registered with VIES after Jan 1st 2021

[tomdmaguire]

As a result of Brexit, regrading VIES:

UK businesses will be able to continue to use the EU VAT number validation service to check the validity of EU businesses, but UK VAT registrations will cease to be included.

The UK Gov has an API in beta for checking VAT numbers:

https://developer.service.hmrc.gov.uk/api-documentation/docs/api/service/vat-registered-companies-api/1.0

(API access is controlled by credentials. Users must sign up for GOV UK Developer Hub)

[tomdmaguire]

Update on GOV UK API access:

Following your feedback, we can confirm that the Check a UK VAT number API has been changed from an application-restricted API, to an open access API today.

[vatfix-ops]

After Brexit, GB VAT numbers are no longer validated via VIES. Only Northern Ireland numbers (prefix XI) still work in VIES. For GB mainland VATs, the official HMRC API should be used instead. A robust implementation will:
• Route EU VATs → VIES,
• NI VATs (XI…) → VIES,
• GB mainland VATs → HMRC API,
• Add clear source metadata (e.g. X-VAT-Source) so consumers know whether the response came from VIES, HMRC, or cache.