Italian supplier VAT number and VIES: Irish traders

In short: before you sell to an Italian customer without Irish VAT, Revenue says to verify the customer's VAT registration number before applying zero-rating, using the VAT number validation system. A VIES check only confirms that a number belongs to a named trader; it does not tell you whether the company is sound. Compare the same name, office and VAT number in Registro Imprese.

Part of the guide Checking an Italian company: a guide for Irish businesses. All guides: Guides.

What Revenue says

• VIES enables traders to confirm the VAT registration numbers of their customers in other EU Member States and applies to intra-EU trade only (Revenue: what are VIES and Intrastat?).
• Revenue tells suppliers to ensure the conditions for zero-rating are met. Doubt can arise, for example, where the customer is not previously known to the supplier, the customer arranges to collect and transport the goods, or the customer pays in cash (Revenue: issues for suppliers to be aware of (intra-Community supplies)).
• If the supplier is in doubt about the validity of a VAT number, it should be verified using the VAT number validation system before zero-rating is applied (same source).
• Revenue states that a supplier that took all reasonable steps will not be penalised if a problem later arises with a consignment, while the tax due at the Irish rate is recovered from any supplier that did not; it also lists a penalty of €4,000 for use of an incorrect VAT number for each transaction (same source).

Then compare with the register

Check the register against your paperwork

On your order or invoice	In Registro Imprese
Legal name with form (S.r.l., S.p.A.)	Registered name and legal form
Registered office	Registered office address
VAT number (partita IVA)	Same number

Registro Imprese offers a free company search by name or activity and access to visure, bilanci and fascicoli (Registro Imprese, the Italian business register portal). A mismatch is a reason to stop and call on an independently found number.

Where Veryfy fits

Verifica (€19) reads Italian official sources and returns one report: beneficial owner, shareholders and directors, protests and insolvency signals, and an estimated operating credit line.

Every company product comes with a free Check anti-truffa (anti-scam check): it looks at the VAT number in the EU VIES register, free webmail or disposable email, domain age, domains flagged for malware or phishing, SPF and DMARC protection, the VAT number shown on the website, data breaches affecting the site, and whether the IBAN is correctly written and from a country consistent with the company.

The service and the report are in Italian, and they come from Italian official sources: company names, offices and procedures keep their original Italian wording. Veryfy does not offer a translated report, and checkout is in Italian for now.

Frequently asked questions

What does a VIES check confirm?

Revenue describes VIES as a way to confirm the VAT registration numbers of customers in other EU Member States. It confirms a number against a named trader, not the trader's reliability.

When should I verify a customer's VAT number?

Revenue says that where there is doubt about the validity of the number, it should be verified before the zero-rating is applied.

What if the VAT number is valid but the company looks wrong?

Compare the name, registered office and VAT number with Registro Imprese, and call the company on a number you found independently before you pay or ship.

More in this cluster

• Irish beneficial ownership register vs the Italian titolare effettivo
• Recovering a debt from an Italian debtor: a guide for Irish creditors
• Italian company report glossary for Irish readers

Sources

Official sources opened and read on 2026-10-24.

• Revenue: what are VIES and Intrastat?
• Revenue: issues for suppliers to be aware of (intra-Community supplies)
• Registro Imprese, the Italian business register portal

General information, not legal advice. Sources verified on 2026-10-24.