VAT

About VAT ID

The Value Added Tax (VAT) ID number applies only if you are placing a business order for a business in the European Union that has a current VAT ID. For all other orders, you should leave this field blank in your account.

VAT exemption

If you purchase an item from Designcollectors as a company from another member state of the European Union, you are exempt from VAT (0% VAT). The amount of VAT is then deducted from the product price. The order will be listed as an intra-Community supply of goods on the invoice.
For this, you must have a registered VAT number, which we will check before accepting the order.

When exporting outside the EU, your order is always exempt from VAT.

Entering your VAT ID

When entering your VAT ID, please follow the format shown for your country in the table below. You should enter only the information shown here. Do not enter your country code as part of the VAT ID.

EU Country With Country CodeFormat To UseExample
Austria (AT) 9 characters, first is always a U U12345678
Belgium (BE) 10 characters 1234567890
Bulgaria (BG) 1 block of 9 digits or 1 block of 10 digits BG999999999 or BG9999999999
Cyprus (CY) 9 characters, last is always alpha 12345678X
Czech Republic (CZ)

3 formats:

  • 8 characters
  • 9 characters
  • 10 characters

If 11, 12 or 13 characters, delete the three-digit suffix, which is a tax code

3 examples:

  • 12345678
  • 123456789
  • 1234567890
Denmark (DK) 8 characters 12345678
Estonia (EE) 9 characters 123456789
Finland (FI) 8 characters 12345678
France (FR)

4 formats, all 11 characters:

  • All digits
  • First character is alpha
  • Second character is alpha
  • First and second characters are alpha

4 examples:

  • 12345678901
  • X1123456789
  • 1X123456789
  • XX123456789
Germany (DE) 9 characters 123456789
Greece (EL) 9 characters 123456789
Hungary (HU) 8 characters 12345678
Ireland (IE)

2 formats, both 8 characters:

  • Last character is alpha
  • Second and last characters are alpha

2 examples:

  • 1234567X
  • 1X34567X
Italy (IT) 11 characters 12345678901
Latvia (LV) 11 characters 12345678901
Lithuania (LT)

2 formats:

  • 9 characters
  • 12 characters

2 examples:

  • 123456789
  • 123456789012
Luxembourg (LU) 8 characters 12345678
Malta (MT) 8 characters 12345678
Netherlands (NL) 12 characters, the three-digit suffix will always be in the format B01 123456789B01
Poland (PL) 10 characters 1234567890
Portugal (PT) 9 characters 123456789
Romania (RO) 1 block of minimum 2 digits and maximum 10 digits 9999999999
Slovakia (SK) 10 characters 1234567890
Slovenia (SI) 8 characters 12345678
Spain (ES)

3 formats, all 9 characters:

  • First character is alpha
  • Last character is alpha
  • First and last characters are alpha

3 examples:

  • X12345678
  • 12345678X
  • X1234567X
Sweden (SE) 12 characters, the two-digit suffix will always be in the format 01 123456789001
United Kingdom (GB) 9 characters 123456789

If you receive an error

If you receive the error message 'Unable to verify VAT ID' one of the following conditions may exist:

  • The VAT ID you entered did not follow the format required for this site. Be sure to follow the format listed for your country in the table above.
  • The VAT ID you entered is invalid, or a technical problem is preventing validation. To check the validity of your VAT ID, you may use the VIES website. If a technical problem is preventing validation, this check will explain the problem and suggest a solution.

VAT will be applied if you proceed with an order when VAT ID verification is unsuccessful. You may be able to reclaim the tax by filing for reimbursement with your local VAT authorities.