Malta · MT
The Maltese VAT number
Eight plain digits, and no public way to search for them. Malta is the smallest register in the Union and one of the hardest to query in bulk.
Format: MT + 8 digits
Example: MT12894031
Issued by: the Commissioner for Revenue.
The format
A Maltese VAT number is ten characters: the country code and eight digits, with no letters and no separators.
- MTThe country code.
- 128940Six identifying digits.
- 31Two check digits.
The last two digits are a modulus 37 check over the first six. As always, a number that checks out arithmetically may still never have been issued.
VAT number and company registration number
Maltese companies carry a registration number from the Malta Business Registry, written with a letter prefix — C for a limited liability company, followed by a sequence. That number identifies the company in corporate law.
The VAT number is separate, issued by the Commissioner for Revenue on VAT registration, and there is no arithmetic relationship between the two. A company can hold a registration number and never be VAT registered; a sole trader can be VAT registered without appearing in the business registry at all.
Malta also issues three VAT registration types under articles 10, 11 and 12 of the VAT Act. Only an article 10 registration produces a number valid for intra-community trade — a distinction that catches out plenty of foreign suppliers.
Finding the business behind a number
The Malta Business Registry
The MBR offers online search by company name or registration number, with documents and filings behind a fee. There is no free bulk extract, and — the decisive point — no way to search by VAT number.
VIES
Malta discloses the name and the address through VIES. The address arrives on several lines, sometimes broken mid-word, and the postcode is written before the locality (MSD 06, then Msida) rather than after it — the opposite of most member states, and worth handling explicitly.
Malta-specific pitfalls
- Article 11 and article 12 registrations are not valid for intra-community supplies. Only an article 10 number validates in VIES; the others exist for exempt small undertakings and for acquisitions only.
- The VAT number is not the MBR registration number, and neither derives from the other.
- The postcode comes before the town in VIES addresses, unlike almost everywhere else.
- There is no open bulk file. The registry is searchable but not downloadable.
- Maltese VAT numbers are only eight digits, which makes them easy to confuse with Hungarian or Danish numbers when the prefix is lost.
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 Malta and for the other twenty-six.
curl "https://api.vatlas.dev/v1/vat/MT12894031" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $VATLAS_KEY"Response:
200 OK
{
"data": {
"vatNumber": "MT12894031",
"countryCode": "MT",
"nationalNumber": "12894031",
"nationalId": null,
"name": "THE UNIVERSITY OF MALTA",
"legalForm": null,
"status": "active",
"address": {
"line1": "University Campus ADM Bldg. Triq Tal- Qroqq",
"line2": null,
"postalCode": "MSD 06",
"city": "Msida",
"country": "MT"
}
},
"meta": {
"origin": "vies",
"source": "VIES",
"sourceUpdatedAt": "2026-08-28T10:16:58.138Z",
"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 Maltese VAT number in short
How many digits does a Maltese VAT number have?
Eight, preceded by the MT country code — ten characters in total.
Is the VAT number the same as the company registration number?
No. The registration number comes from the Malta Business Registry and usually starts with C; the VAT number comes from the Commissioner for Revenue and is purely numeric.
Why does a Maltese VAT number fail in VIES?
Most often because it is an article 11 or article 12 registration. Only an article 10 registration is valid for intra-community trade.
Can I search the Maltese registry by VAT number?
No. The Malta Business Registry is searchable by company name or registration number only.
Where does the postcode sit in a Maltese address?
Before the locality, not after it — the reverse of most member states.
VAT numbers in other countries
Last updated 28 August 2026.