France VAT number format
A France VAT identification number is the prefix FR followed by 2 characters (key: digits or letters except O and I) + 9 digits (SIREN); FR40303265045 is a well-formed example. The national check digit is public, so a mistyped number is caught before VIES is asked. Structure as published in the Commission’s VIES FAQ, consulted 2026-10-24.
Structure
Prefix FR, then 2 characters (key: digits or letters except O and I) + 9 digits (SIREN). The regular expression the API applies to the part after the prefix is ^[0-9A-HJ-NP-Z]{2}[0-9]{9}$; letters are upper-cased and spaces, dots and dashes removed before the test.
| Country prefix | Structure | Example | Public check digit |
|---|---|---|---|
| FR | 2 characters (key: digits or letters except O and I) + 9 digits (SIREN) | FR40303265045 | yes, verified before VIES |
The check digit
France publishes the algorithm of its check digit, so an impossible number is refused before VIES is asked: the answer says structure.checksum: "failed", costs nothing and reaches no upstream. The same algorithms are implemented by the open libraries (jsvat, python-stdnum).
How to validate it
The structure says whether a string can be a France VAT number; only VIES says whether it is registered. The free check below asks VIES live and shows the registered name and address where France publishes them; the API does the same from your code.
curl "https://veriport.io/api/v1/vat/validate?number=FR40303265045"What a valid answer proves
That the number was registered for intra-EU trade at the moment of the check. Keep the date and, on paid tiers, the VIES consultation number: together they are the evidence a tax audit asks for when an intra-EU supply was zero-rated.
Questions
- How many digits does a France VAT number have?
- 2 characters (key: digits or letters except O and I) + 9 digits (SIREN), after the two-letter prefix FR: FR40303265045 is an example.
- Is FR40303265045 a real VAT number?
- It is a well-formed example used in the documentation; whether it is registered today is VIES’s answer, not this page’s. Check it with the free tool.
Free: VIES asked live, the answer dated and sourced.
Check a VAT numberSources
- VIES — VAT Information Exchange System: FAQ and VAT number structures (Q11) — European Commission, DG TAXUD, consulted 2026-10-24
- VIES REST API — check-vat-number, check-status (technical information) — European Commission, DG TAXUD, consulted 2026-10-24