Hungary · HU
The Hungarian VAT number
The EU VAT number is not a separate number: it is the first eight digits of the Hungarian tax number. The three digits it drops are the ones that say the most.
Format: HU + 8 digits
Example: HU15309769 — tax number 15309769-1-42
Issued by: the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV).
The format
The Hungarian adószám is eleven digits, written 12345678-1-23. The EU VAT number keeps only the first eight.
- 15309769The core tax number: 7 digits and a check digit. This becomes the EU VAT number.
- 1The VAT code: 1 exempt, 2 taxed under the general rules, 3 simplified regime, 4–5 VAT group.
- 42The county code of the competent tax directorate.
The ninth digit is the interesting one: a 2 means the business actually charges VAT, a 1 means it is exempt. That information disappears from the EU VAT number, because it is exactly the digit that gets cut off.
Tax number, company number, statistical number
The adószám comes from NAV and every taxpayer has one. The EU VAT number is the same core with HU in front — but it exists only if the business asked for it.
The company registration number comes from the court of registration, in the form 01-09-123456: county, company type, sequence. The statistical number is 17 digits and comes from the statistical office. Neither converts into the other.
This is the Hungarian trap. Having a tax number does not mean the business may trade intra-community. The EU VAT number has to be requested separately, and NAV can withdraw it — at which point the number simply becomes invalid in VIES while the company carries on trading domestically.
Finding the company
NAV databases
NAV offers a public tax number check and publishes the list of taxpayers whose tax number has been suspended or cancelled. So the status of a number can be verified — but the service is not a company directory.
For machine access NAV has a queryTaxpayer service, which requires a registered technical user and a signed request: a considerably heavier onboarding than a simple free account.
The company information service
e-cegjegyzek.hu gives basic data free; detailed extracts and financial statements are paid. It is searched by company name or registration number.
VIES
Hungary discloses both the name and the address through VIES. The address arrives on a single line with the postcode and town at the end.
Hungary-specific pitfalls
- Do not send all eleven digits.
HU153097691is wrong; the EU VAT number is the first eight only. - The ninth digit is the VAT code, and a 1 means the business is exempt — information the EU VAT number no longer carries.
- The EU VAT number must be requested separately, and NAV can suspend or cancel it.
- The company registration number is not the tax number, and neither can be computed from the other.
- There is no free bulk source for detailed company data.
One API for 27 member states
Vatlas turns a European VAT number into a company record: legal name, national identifier, legal form, status and address. Same call, same shape, for Hungary and for the other twenty-six.
curl "https://api.vatlas.dev/v1/vat/HU15309769" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $VATLAS_KEY"Response:
200 OK
{
"data": {
"vatNumber": "HU15309769",
"countryCode": "HU",
"nationalNumber": "15309769",
"nationalId": null,
"name": "ORSZÁGOS ONKOLÓGIAI INTÉZET",
"legalForm": null,
"status": "active",
"address": {
"line1": "RATH GYORGY UTCA 7-9",
"line2": null,
"postalCode": "1122",
"city": "BUDAPEST",
"country": "HU"
}
},
"meta": {
"origin": "vies",
"source": "VIES",
"sourceUpdatedAt": "2026-08-28T10:16:52.061Z",
"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 Hungarian VAT number in short
How many digits does a Hungarian EU VAT number have?
Eight after the HU prefix — ten characters in total.
What is the difference between the adószám and the EU VAT number?
The adószám is eleven digits and every taxpayer has one. The EU VAT number is its first eight digits with HU in front, and exists only if the business requested it.
What does the ninth digit of the tax number mean?
The VAT code: 1 exempt, 2 taxed under the general rules, 3 the simplified regime, 4 and 5 VAT groups. That digit is not part of the EU VAT number.
What do the last two digits mean?
The county code of the competent tax directorate. They can change if the registered seat moves.
Why is an existing Hungarian company invalid in VIES?
Either it has no EU VAT number, or NAV has suspended or cancelled it. The company may still be trading normally at home.
VAT numbers in other countries
Last updated 28 August 2026.