EU VAT guide
Is VIES down?
VIES availability can change during the day. A failed VAT check can come from the EU gateway, a national registry, rate limits, or a timeout.
What this status can tell you
The live check below tests whether the VIES technical service appears reachable from VAT Validate.
It does not guarantee every member-state VAT registry is online, because each country can fail independently.
How to interpret downtime
If the gateway is reachable but your VAT check returns MS_UNAVAILABLE, the issue is likely with the relevant national registry.
If the gateway is not reachable, retry later and avoid marking customer VAT numbers as invalid based only on the outage.
Live gateway check
Checking VIES...
Checking whether the VIES technical service is reachable.
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Related VIES guides
- VIES VAT checkerCheck an EU VAT number in VIES and understand what the response means.
- EU VAT number validationValidate EU VAT IDs and learn when VAT checks matter for cross-border trade.
- VIES consultation numberLearn what a VIES consultation number is and when it can appear.
- VIES errors explainedUnderstand common VIES errors such as MS_UNAVAILABLE, TIMEOUT, and SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE.
- VIES service unavailableWhat to do when VIES or a national VAT registry is unavailable.
- MS_UNAVAILABLE VIES errorUnderstand the MS_UNAVAILABLE VIES error and how to handle it.