How to Verify VAT on an Irish Ready-Made Company (2026)

If you are buying an Irish ready-made company that comes with a VAT number, the number itself is the smallest part of the check. What matters is which tier the registration holds, whether the returns are up to date, and whether anything is owed. This guide is the checklist in the order a buyer can actually run it, with what each step proves and what it does not.

The check that catches most problems: which tier the registration holds

Ireland operates a two-tier VAT registration system, and Revenue publishes it as such. A domestic-only registration is sufficient for trading within the State and with countries outside the EU. An intra-EU registration is what permits intra-Community acquisitions and zero-rated supplies to VAT-registered businesses in other member states, and Revenue registers intra-EU traders automatically on the EU VAT Information Exchange System (VIES).

The consequence for a buyer is direct. A company can hold a genuine, live Irish VAT number and still be unable to invoice a business customer in another member state at zero rate, because the registration is domestic-only. Since VIES listing follows intra-EU status, a number that does not come back on VIES is not an intra-EU registration. The check is free and takes under a minute, and it is the single most useful thing you can do before a deposit changes hands.

A domestic-only holder can apply for intra-EU status at any time, but that application carries its own evidence burden. Revenue asks for information on transport arrangements, the nature of the supplies and acquisitions, and the due diligence carried out to establish the bona fides of customers and suppliers. In other words, the upgrade is not a formality, and it is not instant.

The verification checklist

1. Confirm the company and its filing position. A CRO Core search gives the registration number, date of incorporation, company status and the annual return position. Free, public, no login required.
2. Confirm the beneficial ownership record. Ask for an RBO extract. A company incorporated more than five months ago with no beneficial ownership filing is already outside Regulation 20(2) of SI 110/2019, and that is a criminal offence rather than a late filing fee. See our step-by-step guide to RBO filing.
3. Check the VAT number on VIES. Use the EU tool at ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies with the IE prefix. Treat this as the tier check described above, not merely as an existence check.
4. Ask the seller for evidence of the registration itself. You cannot look up a third party’s VAT registration details on ROS: the record belongs to the company and its agent. So the evidence has to come from the seller, in the form of the Revenue eRegistration confirmation showing the registration date and the tax heads the company is registered for.
5. Get the tax clearance position and verify it yourself. Revenue’s electronic tax clearance verification needs two pieces of information: the tax reference number and the Tax Clearance Access Number. Ask the seller for both and verify through ROS, rather than accepting a screenshot of a certificate.
6. Ask which VAT returns are filed and which are outstanding. That means the VAT3 returns and the annual Return of Trading Details. A registration that is live but behind on returns is a Revenue enquiry waiting to happen, and it lands on the new owner.
7. Compare the registered activity with yours. The activity the company is registered for should be recognisably the activity you intend to carry on. Where it is not, the change is straightforward, but make it deliberately rather than discovering the mismatch at the first Revenue query.
8. Ask whether an EORI number is attached. EORI is separate from VAT, issued by Revenue through ROS, and needed to move goods through Irish customs. See our guide on what an EORI number is and why you need it.
9. Ask what happens on the day after the transfer. Who files the next VAT3, who holds the ROS digital certificate, and when ROS access moves to you. This is the question buyers most often skip and most often regret.

What a seller should hand over without being pressed

A professional formation agent selling a VAT-registered ready-made Irish company should supply, on request and before payment: the CRO number and incorporation date, the RBO filing confirmation, the VAT number with its tier stated in writing, the Revenue eRegistration confirmation showing registration date and tax heads, the tax reference number and Tax Clearance Access Number so you can verify clearance yourself, and a statement of which VAT3 returns and Returns of Trading Details have been filed.

None of that is commercially sensitive and none of it costs the seller anything to produce. A seller who will not produce it is telling you something.

Red flags

• The VAT number does not return a result on VIES, and the seller describes it as intra-EU anyway.
• The seller will not state the registration tier in writing.
• The seller offers a screenshot of a tax clearance certificate but not the access number needed to verify it.
• VAT3 returns or the Return of Trading Details are outstanding.
• The registered activity has no relationship to the activity you intend to carry on.
• The company was incorporated more than five months ago and has no RBO filing.
• The seller cannot say who files the next VAT return after the transfer.

Any of these needs resolving before you proceed, not after.

If the company has no VAT number: what registering yourself actually involves

The alternative to buying a company that already holds a registration is applying for one. It is worth knowing what that application is, because the common description of it as a short administrative step does not match Revenue’s own guidance.

Revenue’s published guidelines for VAT registration ask for evidence that the applicant will become an accountable person: a lease on business premises or evidence of efforts to secure premises, a copy of a contract relating to the supply or receipt of goods or services, sample sales and purchase invoices, customer and supplier lists, and market research, business projections or a feasibility study. A business that has not yet begun to supply taxable goods or services may register, but only on satisfactory evidence that it will become an accountable person. An application can be disallowed, with a right of appeal under section 119(2) of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010.

Revenue publishes no processing standard for a VAT registration. Its guidance says only that providing the supporting information at the time of submission may reduce the waiting time. In our own practice the applications we handle take 4 to 12 weeks from submission, and where a case falls inside that range is explained by the evidence rather than by any queue. That is why a non-resident founder with no Irish premises, no Irish employees and no Irish payroll can find this step far harder than the description suggests.

Mechanically, a company applies through Revenue’s eRegistration service on ROS, or on form TR2 where eRegistration is not available to it. For the walkthrough, see how to register for VAT in Ireland in 4 steps, and for the direct comparison of the two routes see VAT-registered ready-made versus self-registering for VAT.

Thresholds, rates and the rule that catches non-residents

The Irish VAT registration thresholds are EUR 85,000 for a person supplying goods and EUR 42,500 for a person supplying services only. Registration is obligatory where turnover in any continuous twelve-month period exceeds, or is expected to exceed, the relevant threshold, and voluntary registration is available below it.

There is an important exception that catches non-resident founders. Revenue’s position is that a person who is not established in the State must register and account for VAT if that person supplies taxable goods or services to taxable customers in the State, and that this applies irrespective of the level of turnover, unless they avail of the VAT SME Scheme. For a non-established business, in other words, there is no threshold to shelter under.

Why a company that already holds the registration costs more

The difference in price between a plain shelf company and one that holds a live VAT registration is not a charge for the number. It is the removal of an application whose outcome is not guaranteed, whose timeline Revenue does not publish, and whose evidence requirements a newly formed non-resident structure is least able to satisfy. If your own evidence position is strong, self-registering is a reasonable route and the cheaper one. If it is not, the application is exactly where the plan stalls.

Our own VAT-registered Irish ready-made companies are checked against this list before listing, and the registration tier is stated before purchase. If you do not need VAT immediately, a ready-made Irish company without VAT is the lower-cost option.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to buy an Irish ready-made company with a verified VAT position? See our VAT-registered Irish ready-made companies, each checked against the list above before listing.

Written by Ihar Baikou, Head of Growth and Marketing at Chern & Co.

Need a VAT-registered Irish company? You can arrange VAT registration in Ireland with us, or buy a company that is already VAT-registered.