Check a Belgian VAT number: making sure a supplier really exists
A VAT number on an invoice proves nothing until you check it. Here is how to verify a Belgian or European number, which sources are official and what still needs checking.
Checking a VAT number takes a minute and prevents you from paying a company that no longer exists, has been struck off or never existed. It is also the first step for every other check: without a correct company number you cannot verify debts or the withholding obligation.
How a Belgian number is built
A Belgian company number has ten digits and starts with 0 or 1, for example 0403.170.701. The VAT number is the same number prefixed with BE. The most common mistake is dropping the leading zero, which produces a nine digit number that cannot be found anywhere.
The last two digits are a check number: the number formed by the first eight digits, divided by 97, leaves a remainder that together with the last two digits adds up to 97. If that does not match, the number was mistyped.
Where to check
| Source | For what | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| CBE Public Search | Belgian companies | name, address, legal situation, activities, establishments |
| VIES | EU VAT numbers | whether the number is valid for intra community trade |
| Belgian Official Gazette | changes and publications | incorporation, changes to articles, liquidation |
For a Belgian supplier, start in the CBE register. It shows the legal situation straight away: normal situation, cessation, or a bankruptcy procedure. For a supplier in another EU member state, use VIES. That system only says whether the number is valid, not whether the company is healthy.
What a valid number does not prove
A valid VAT number does not mean the company pays its social security contributions, has no tax debts or is free of the withholding obligation. That information sits in other registers. A company can be validly registered and still, on the day you pay, have debts that force you to transfer part of the invoice to the authorities.
A practical routine for a new supplier
- Compare the number on the invoice with the number in your contract.
- Check the check digits, or have that done automatically.
- Look the number up in the CBE register and compare name and address with the invoice.
- Review the legal situation: anything other than a normal situation needs a question.
- Check social security and tax debts before you pay, and repeat at every payment.
Common situations
The name on the invoice differs from the register. Often it is a trade name. The official company name in the register is what counts for your bookkeeping.
The number does not exist in the register. Check the leading zero first. If it stays unknown, ask the supplier for a recent extract.
A foreign number. You will not find it in the Belgian register. For foreign companies working in Belgium a withholding obligation check is still possible, even without Belgian register data.
Automating instead of checking by hand
With ten suppliers, manual checking works. With hundreds it does not, mainly because the situation changes after you checked. Tools exist that validate the number, fetch register data and keep following the debt status, so you get an alert as soon as something changes.
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