Austria · AT
The Austrian VAT number (UID)
Eleven characters, three of which are fixed before you start. Austria is the only member state whose prefix carries a letter of its own.
Format: ATU + 8 digits
Example: ATU14189108
Issued by: the competent tax office, on application (form U 15).
The format
An Austrian VAT number — Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer, UID — is always eleven characters. The letter U is part of the number, not a typo: it stands for Umsatzsteuer, and it is the only letter any EU prefix carries after the country code.
- ATThe country code.
- UA fixed part of every Austrian UID.
- 1418910Seven identifying digits.
- 8The check digit.
The last digit checks the seven before it, so any single transposition fails immediately. It says nothing about whether the number was ever issued.
UID, Steuernummer, Firmenbuchnummer
Austria runs three numbers side by side, and only the first counts for intra-community trade.
| Number | Format | Issued by | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| UID number | ATU + 8 digits | Tax office | Intra-community supplies of goods and services |
| Steuernummer | 9 digits (FF-NNNNNNP) | Tax office | Domestic taxes. The first two digits identify the tax office |
| Firmenbuch number | FN + number + check letter | Commercial court | Company law identification |
The Steuernummer is routinely mistaken for the UID because both come from the tax office. It is purely domestic and has no place on a cross-border invoice.
Finding the company behind a number
The Firmenbuch
Austria's commercial register is complete and reliable — and not freely accessible. Queries go through commercial clearing agencies, each one is charged for, and you search by company name or register number, never by VAT number. No open bulk dataset exists.
FinanzOnline and the level-2 confirmation
Through FinanzOnline the finance ministry offers a two-level confirmation. Level 1 checks only that the UID is valid. Level 2 additionally compares the name and address you supply against the other member state's records — so it confirms data rather than releasing it. That confirmation is exactly what the zero-rating evidence requires.
VIES
Austria does disclose the name and address through VIES, unlike Germany. That makes VIES the only free source that gets you from an Austrian number to a company.
Austria-specific pitfalls
- The
Ugets dropped constantly.AT14189108is not a valid number, and a validator that silently inserts the letter hides a data-entry error. - Small businesses get no UID automatically. Below the threshold it has to be applied for, which becomes necessary as soon as they buy from another member state.
- The Firmenbuch is paid. Unlike Belgium or Estonia there is no open bulk file to build a directory from.
- The UID cannot be derived from the Firmenbuch number, nor the other way round.
One call, 27 member states
Vatlas resolves a European VAT number to a company record: legal name, national identifier, legal form, status and address. Same call, same shape, for Austria and for the other twenty-six.
curl "https://api.vatlas.dev/v1/vat/ATU14189108" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $VATLAS_KEY"Response:
200 OK
{
"data": {
"vatNumber": "ATU14189108",
"countryCode": "AT",
"nationalNumber": "U14189108",
"nationalId": null,
"name": "OMV Aktiengesellschaft",
"legalForm": null,
"status": "active",
"address": {
"line1": "Trabrennstraße 6-8",
"line2": null,
"postalCode": "1020",
"city": "Wien",
"country": "AT"
}
},
"meta": {
"origin": "vies",
"source": "VIES",
"sourceUpdatedAt": "2026-08-28T10:16:37.508Z",
"checked": ["database", "VIES"]
}
}meta.origin says where the answer came from: database for a register imported locally, source for a national API queried live, vies as a last resort. The shape of the response never changes from one country to the next.
Free to try. An email address creates an account — no credit card, no sales call — with 100 requests a month and a working key in about a minute.
Frequently asked
The Austrian VAT number in short
How many characters does an Austrian VAT number have?
Eleven: the ATU prefix and eight digits, the last of which is a check digit.
What does the U in ATU stand for?
Umsatzsteuer, German for VAT. It is a fixed part of every Austrian UID and must never be omitted.
What is the difference between the UID and the Steuernummer?
The Steuernummer is purely domestic and starts with the code of the competent tax office. The UID is for intra-community trade and is the only one that belongs on an invoice to another member state.
What is the level-2 confirmation for?
It confirms the name and address you supply against the other member state’s records. For zero-rating an intra-community supply it is the due-diligence evidence the tax office expects.
Can I search the Austrian company register for free?
No. Queries run through commercial clearing agencies and are charged for, and there is no open bulk dataset.
VAT numbers in other countries
Last updated 28 August 2026.