Italy VAT number: format and validation

By Remco from Avatcado

Format

IT followed by 11 digits. The local term is Partita IVA (Imposta sul Valore Aggiunto) (P.IVA, Italian).

Pattern: /^\d{11}$/

  • Digits 8-10 are the code of the issuing provincial tax office; the first 7 digits are a sequential taxpayer identifier
  • For most companies the partita IVA numerically coincides with the codice fiscale, but for individuals the codice fiscale is a separate 16-character alphanumeric code

Example of a registered number: IT00905811006

Check digit

Italy VAT numbers carry a check digit (Luhn MOD 10): The 11th digit is a Luhn check digit computed over the first 10 digits, so the doubled-and-summed total must be divisible by 10.

Check a Italy VAT number

Checks route through VIES. Caching is enabled by default. Read the source, original result time and freshness label alongside validity; a cached or stale result does not freshly confirm current registration.

Enter a VAT number to see its registration result, source and freshness

Validate via API

The same validation as an API call, with the example number above:

curl "https://api.avatcado.com/v1/validate?vat_number=IT00905811006" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer avat_live_your_api_key"
import Avatcado from "@avatcado/node";

const avatcado = new Avatcado("avat_live_your_api_key");
const { data, error } = await avatcado.vat.validate({
  vatNumber: "IT00905811006",
});

if (data?.data.valid) {
  console.log(`Registered: ${data.data.company?.name}`);
}

Free tier includes 500 validations per month. Get an API key or read the API documentation.

How Avatcado validates Italy numbers

  • Primary source: VIES.
  • Company name and address: yes, observed 2026-09-04.
  • When VIES is down: the most recent cached result, then a refunded 503.

See the full coverage table.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a partita IVA and a codice fiscale?

The codice fiscale is Italy's universal tax code held by everyone, while the partita IVA is the 11-digit number issued only to businesses and self-employed professionals for VAT purposes; for most companies the two coincide. Agenzia delle Entrate's Verifica Partita IVA tool returns a number's status and the holder's name.

What is the regime forfettario and its turnover limit?

Italy's flat-tax scheme applies to individuals with annual revenues or fees up to EUR 85,000, confirmed for 2026. Participants keep a partita IVA but charge no VAT and pay a substitute tax of 15 percent (5 percent for new activities); crossing EUR 100,000 ends the regime immediately.

How does Avatcado validate Italy VAT numbers when VIES is down?

For Italy VAT numbers, uncached checks use VIES, the EU's VAT Information Exchange System, which routes the query to Italy's own national database. Caching is enabled by default without a requester VAT number. Read the freshness label and original result time to distinguish a new lookup from a previous result. A valid answer includes the registered company name and address that Italy's tax administration publishes through VIES, which we last confirmed against a real registered number on 2026-09-04. No national register is published for Italy that Avatcado can consult as a substitute, unlike the ten EU countries with a national fallback on Pro and Business, so an availability fault such as MS_UNAVAILABLE or a timeout can be answered only by eligible cache. A stored result has meta.cached: true and meta.source_status: "unavailable", plus meta.stale: true when it is past the cache window. Requester checks disable stored responses by default; cache=true opts back in. If no eligible stored result can answer, the request returns a refunded 503 (upstream_member_state_unavailable). A cached or stale result is earlier registration evidence, not a fresh check.

Related guides

VAT rate in Italy

The standard VAT rate in Italy is 22%. Reduced rates: 10%, 5%, 4%. See all Italy VAT rates.

Sources