The Latvian VAT number

The format

A Latvian VAT number is always thirteen characters: the country code and eleven digits. They are the company registration number, unchanged.

• LVThe country code.
• 4The first digit: 4 or 5 for a legal person.
• 000207122Nine digits.
• 4The check digit.

For a natural person — a sole trader — the first digit is between 0 and 3 and the number is built from the date of birth. For a legal person it starts with 4 or 5 and a different check calculation applies.

Registration number and VAT number

The registration number is assigned by the Register of Enterprises when the company is registered. The VAT number is that same number with LV in front — but only if the company is registered as a VAT payer.

The distinction matters: everyone has a registration number, not everyone has VAT payer status. A company below the threshold does not appear in VIES even though it is perfectly lawfully in the register.

Finding the company

Two open registers

Latvia publishes two CSV files on data.gov.lv under CC0: the Register of Enterprises data (name, address, legal form, status) and the list of VAT payers (who is registered, and since when).

Neither works alone. The first knows nothing about VAT, the second knows no names. They join on the registration number, and only together do they allow a lookup by VAT number. Both are small and download in seconds.

VIES

Latvia discloses name and address. The address arrives as one comma-separated line, and the postcode carries an LV- prefix — LV-1003 — which has to be handled if you want to split it out.

The register itself publishes a territory code rather than a town name, so automatic splitting usually leaves the city field empty and keeps the whole address in one line. That is deliberate: guessing at a split would be worse than admitting there is none.

Latvia-specific pitfalls

• The first digit indicates the type of person: 4 or 5 for a legal person, 0 to 3 for a sole trader.
• A registration number does not imply VAT payer status. They are two different registers.
• You need both files. Neither one alone allows a lookup by VAT number.
• The postcode carries an LV- prefix that has to be handled separately.
• The city field is often empty, because the register stores a territory code rather than a town name.

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. For Latvia the two open registers are already joined and imported, so the answer comes from the database.

curl "https://api.vatlas.dev/v1/vat/LV40002071224" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VATLAS_KEY"

Response:

200 OK

{
  "data": {
    "vatNumber": "LV40002071224",
    "countryCode": "LV",
    "nationalNumber": "40002071224",
    "nationalId": "40002071224",
    "name": "Sabiedrība ar ierobežotu atbildību "FREONS"",
    "legalForm": null,
    "status": "active",
    "address": {
      "line1": "Firsa Sadovņikova iela 21 - 69, Rīga, LV-1003",
      "line2": null,
      "postalCode": null,
      "city": null,
      "country": "LV"
    }
  },
  "meta": {
    "origin": "database",
    "source": "UR_VID",
    "sourceUpdatedAt": "2026-08-27T04:12:33.000Z",
    "checked": ["database"]
  }
}

Note that city stays null: the whole address is in line1, because the register does not publish the town name separately. Guessing at a split would be worse than not attempting one.

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.

Get a free key Read the documentation

VAT numbers in other countries

• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Spain
• Netherlands
• Belgium
• All countries

Last updated 28 August 2026.