# EU VAT number validation in SAP: the VIES check

Source: https://veriport.io/guides/vies-vat-validation-sap (published 2026-11-12)

SAP S/4HANA can check a business partner’s VAT number on VIES itself, through its online validation of business partners, connected either through SAP Integration Suite or a direct HTTP destination. It returns a consultation number only when your own VAT number is set as the requester. SAP Business One has no native VIES check in SAP’s public documentation. This page says how each works and when one HTTPS call is the simpler route.

- S/4HANA: the VIES check runs in the online validation of business partners; it is connected through an Integration Suite iFlow or an SM59 HTTP destination.
- Without a valid requester VAT number, consultation numbers are not included (SAP KBA 3236768: « Valid; Consultation number not provided »).
- SAP’s page warns that VIES has scheduled and unscheduled outages; the check then has nothing to answer.
- SAP Business One: no native VIES check found in SAP’s public documentation; add-ons and integrations fill the gap.

## S/4HANA: turn on what is there

If you run S/4HANA, use the built-in check first: it validates where business partners are maintained. Set your company’s VAT number as the requester (since CE 2208, SSCUI 105630 « Maintain VIES specific parameters »), or the answers come without consultation numbers. SAP’s help pages render in the browser; the points here were read from them on 12 November 2026.

## When an API call is the simpler route

SAP Business One, which has no native check; S/4HANA landscapes where setting up the iFlow or the destination is a project of its own; a member state that is down at the moment of the check (the API serves the last dated answer, marked stale, instead of nothing); and one check shared with the web shop or the billing system outside SAP. From SAP it is an HTTP destination to the API and one GET; the request is the same as this curl.

```bash
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $VERIPORT_KEY" \
  "https://veriport.io/api/v1/vat/validate?number=DE136695976&requester=FR40303265045&record=true"
```

## What to keep

`record=true` keeps the check on the account (paid tiers), so it can be read back later by id; keep the id, or the fields below, with the business partner.

| Field | Why |
|---|---|
| `valid` | The VIES answer for the number on the day asked. |
| `requestDate`, `source.checkedAt` | When VIES answered (live) or when the cached answer was obtained. |
| `source.kind`, `source.stale` | `live` or `cache`; `stale: true` when the member state was down and a dated earlier answer was served. |
| `consultationNumber` | The Commission’s reference for this check, when you sent `requester` (your own VAT number) on a paid tier. |
| `name`, `address` | What the member state publishes; Germany and a few others publish neither. |

## Questions

### Does the API replace SAP’s online validation?

Not where it is set up and working: keep it. The API is for the systems without it, and for the hours a member state does not answer.

### Do I need a requester VAT number with the API too?

Only for the consultation number, as with VIES itself: pass `requester` with your own VAT number on a paid tier. Without it the answer still says valid or not, dated.

## Read next

- [VIES API: REST vs SOAP, errors and limits](https://veriport.io/guides/vies-api-check-eu-vat-number)
- [VIES is down: validate anyway](https://veriport.io/guides/vies-down-validate-eu-vat-number-anyway)
- [Validate EU VAT numbers in bulk from a CSV](https://veriport.io/guides/validate-eu-vat-numbers-in-bulk-from-csv)
- [Reference: GET /vat/validate](https://veriport.io/docs/vat-validation)

## Sources

- SAP S/4HANA: VIES check in the online validation of business partners (consultation numbers need a valid requester VAT number) — https://help.sap.com/docs/SAP_S4HANA_ON-PREMISE/b2d44c1091094b5a810c2a879ee95522/ac413e3173624f51aa77cd9009811177.html (2026-11-12)
- SAP Online Validation Service: connecting the VIES check (Integration Suite iFlow or an SM59 HTTP destination) — https://help.sap.com/docs/OVS/1fff6cdfaeb6499ab193faf2ff14a3c7/b114c68165b74e7eb347f4121283b48c.html (2026-11-12)
- SAP KBA 3236768: « Valid; Consultation number not provided » (the requester VAT number in SSCUI 105630) — https://userapps.support.sap.com/sap/support/knowledge/en/3236768 (2026-11-12)
- VIES on-the-Web endpoint: OpenAPI contract (POST /check-vat-number, GET /check-status; requester fields for the consultation number) — https://ec.europa.eu/assets/taxud/vow-information/swagger_publicVAT.yaml (2026-11-12)