What is VIES?

VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) is the European Commission's free service for confirming that a VAT (value-added tax) number is registered for cross-border trade between EU countries. If you're a retailer in the EU, your VIES status determines whether VAT is added to orders you place with brands who ship from other EU countries.

What is VIES?

VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) is a free service run by the European Commission. It lets businesses and tax authorities across the EU confirm that a VAT (value-added tax) number is registered for intra-community trade.

Being registered for VAT and being registered in VIES aren't the same thing:

• Being registered for VAT locally means your national tax authority has issued you a VAT number that you use for domestic invoicing and your VAT returns.
• Being registered in VIES means that your VAT registration is also cleared for cross-border EU trade, so that businesses shipping from other EU countries can apply the 0% rate of VAT.

In several EU countries, registering for VAT doesn't automatically add you to VIES. It may be a separate request that you make to your tax authority.

You can look up any EU VAT number, including your own, using the European Commission's VIES validation tool.

Do I need to be registered in VIES to buy on Faire?

You don't. You can shop as normal without a VAT number, or with a VAT number that isn't registered in VIES (VAT Information Exchange System)..

Your VIES status only affects whether VAT (value-added tax) at 0% is charged on orders where a brand ships to you from a different EU country. See further information on this below. If you don't have a VAT number, select the I don't have one checkbox in the Import & tax info section of your Settings. To learn more, visit Do I need a VAT number?

How does my VIES status affect VAT on my orders?

Your VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) status affects intra-community orders, which is when a brand ships from one EU country to you in a different EU country. Domestic orders and orders shipped from outside the EU work the same way regardless of your VIES status.

For intra-community orders:

• If your VAT (value-added tax) number is registered in VIES, the 0% VAT rate applies. We'll indicate on your invoice that the order is treated as an intra-community supply, and that you're responsible for self-accounting for VAT in your VAT returns.
• If you are VAT registered, but your VAT number isn't registered in VIES, we'll charge VAT at the applicable rate based on the order's ship from country, even if your number is valid in your own country. While the order is still an intra-Community supply, it does not meet one of the conditions required in order for the 0% rate to be applied and you may be required to self-account based on the rules in your local country.
• If we're still checking your number, VAT applies until that check finishes. Checks usually take a few minutes, and we'll email you once yours is complete.

If you don't have a VAT number on file, VAT applies as it does today. We'll charge VAT at the applicable rate based on the order's ship to country.

To learn more about how VAT is calculated on each order type, visit How do I pay VAT on orders in the EU?

Can the VAT on my order change after I place it?

It can. We check your VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) status at several points in an order's life, so the total on an intra-community order can change between the moment you place it and the moment the brand ships it.

The status we have when the brand ships the order is the one we use to finalize VAT, as this is the point that the order invoice becomes final. Once an order has shipped, we don't go back and change the VAT on it.

This means that if your VAT (value-added tax) number isn't registered in VIES when it should be, correcting it before your order ships removes the VAT from that order. Correcting it after the order has shipped only affects your future orders.

How do I check if my VAT number is registered in VIES?

There are two ways to check whether your VAT (value-added tax) number is registered in VIES (VAT Information Exchange System).

To check in your Faire account:

1. Go to your account Settings.
2. Navigate to the Profile tab.
3. Scroll to the Import & tax info section.
4. Find the status shown underneath your VAT number.

The status will be one of the following:

• Verified for intra-community trade means your number is registered in VIES and eligible cross-border EU orders are charged 0% VAT.
• Not verified for intra-community trade means your number isn't registered in VIES, so VAT is added to your cross-border EU orders.
• We couldn't read this VAT number means the number doesn't match the expected format for your country.
• Number changed, save to confirm means you've edited the field without saving. Select Save to store the new number and start a check.

To run a fresh check on a number you haven't changed, select Verify. To check a new or corrected number, enter it and select Save. Either way, we'll email you when the check is complete.

You can also look your number up directly with the European Commission's VIES validation tool.

Why isn't my VAT number verified for cross-border trade?

There are two common reasons your VAT (value-added tax) number isn't verified in VIES (VAT Information Exchange System), and the fix is different for each.

The number isn't in the expected format. This is usually a typo, a missing country code, or extra spaces and punctuation. Include the two-letter country code at the front with no space after it, so DE123456789 rather than 123456789, and remove any spaces, dots, and dashes. To correct it, go to your account Settings, navigate to the Profile tab, scroll to the Import & tax info section, enter the corrected number, and select Save.

The number is correct but isn't registered in VIES. If the format is right and the number is genuinely yours, your VAT registration likely hasn't been extended to cross-border EU trade. You can confirm this using the European Commission's VIES validation tool — if it returns an invalid result for a number your tax authority has issued you, that's the likely cause, and you'll need to ask your tax authority to register you for intra-community trade.

VIES is occasionally offline for maintenance, and a check that ran during an outage may need to be repeated. If you believe your number is registered and it still isn't recognized, go to your account Settings, navigate to the Profile tab, scroll to the Import & tax info section, and select Verify to run the check again.

What's the correct format for my VAT number?

Every EU VAT (value-added tax) number starts with a two-letter country code, followed by a sequence of digits and, in some countries, letters. Enter yours with the country code included and no spaces or punctuation.

Greek VAT numbers start with EL rather than GR. If you're in Germany, the number to enter is your Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer (USt-IdNr.), which is different from your local Steuernummer.

A number in the correct format still needs to be registered in VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) before cross-border EU orders are charged 0% VAT. The format is only the first check.

A number in the correct format still needs to be registered in VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) before cross-border EU orders are charged 0% VAT. The format is only the first check.

How do I register for VIES?

Some Member States will automatically register you for VIES at the same time as registering for VAT. Other Member States will require a separate VIES registration process. The exact process will depend on the Member State.

If you are not VIES-registered and believe that you should be VIES-registered, then you may find the following steps useful:

1. Contact the tax authority that issued your VAT number.
2. Ask to be registered for intra-community transactions so your VAT number appears in VIES. Most authorities let you do this online.
3. Wait for confirmation. Some authorities process this in a few days, others take several weeks, and some run additional checks on your business first.
4. Check your number in the European Commission's VIES validation tool once you've been confirmed.
5. Go to your account Settings, navigate to the Profile tab, scroll to the Import & tax info section, and select Verify to update your status on Faire.

Only tax administrations can issue a VAT number, and there's no fee to be added to VIES. The European Commission has warned that businesses receive unsolicited offers to obtain a VAT number in exchange for an advance payment, sometimes made to look like official EU correspondence. Check with your tax authority before responding to a message like this.

Does VIES apply to me if I'm not in the EU?

VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) only covers trade between EU member states, so it doesn't apply if your business is based outside the EU.

If you're in the UK, Norway, or Switzerland, you can still add a VAT (value-added tax) number to your account, and VAT is handled under the rules for your country instead. To learn more, visit How will I pay VAT on my orders in the UK? or How will I pay VAT on my orders in Non-EU European countries?

To add or update a VAT number, visit How do I add my business tax information?