# VIES EU VAT Number Validator

> VIES EU VAT Number Validator is a paid API for AI agents from api.strale.io, paid per call via x402, $0.0216/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-14).

Validates a European VAT number against the official VIES database and returns company name, address, and validity status with 24-hour caching.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://api.strale.io/x402/vat-validate
- Price: $0.0216/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-14
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/api-strale-io-bd0300de
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_WwllH8-4rzz5JdbVA7qIF

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability api-strale-io-bd0300de
```

Example prompt: Can you check if the VAT number SE556703748501 is valid and tell me the company name and address registered to it?

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need to verify the validity of an EU VAT number for B2B invoicing, supplier onboarding, or tax compliance purposes. The 24-hour cache makes it faster and more reliable than hitting VIES directly, especially during VIES downtime. Prefer this over manual VIES lookups when automating invoice validation workflows or KYC/KYB checks for European companies.

## Known failure modes

- Invalid VAT number format (missing country prefix or wrong length) returns validation error
- VIES database temporarily unavailable — endpoint falls back to cached data if available
- VAT number not found in VIES returns invalid/not-registered result
- Non-EU VAT numbers are not supported
- Rate limiting or payment failure returns 402 response

## How this service works

Validate a European VAT number against the VIES database. Returns company name, address, and validity. Caches results for 24 hours for instant responses on repeated lookups. Serves cached data when VIES is down.

## Output

Returns the company name, registered address, and a validity boolean for the queried VAT number. Results are cached for 24 hours for fast repeated lookups, and cached data is served as a fallback if the VIES system is temporarily unavailable.

## Example request

```json
{
 "vat_number": "SE556703748501"
}
```

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "GET",
      "HEAD",
      "DELETE"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "queryParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "vat_number"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "vat_number": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "EU VAT number including country prefix (e.g. SE556703748501)"
      }
     }
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/api-strale-io-bd0300de/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from api.strale.io](https://www.zero.xyz/host/api.strale.io/llms.txt)