UK Peppol ID lookup

Enter a UK VAT registration number. You can paste it as it appears on an invoice, e.g. GB 123 4567 89 or 123456789. A UK VAT number has 9 digits, sometimes written with "GB" in front ^[2]. We strip spaces and "GB" automatically.

What the lookup shows

1. Two choices above the result: What are you sending? (an invoice, a credit note or a self-billing invoice) and Whose number is this? (a customer's, or your own business's).
2. A verdict for that document. For a customer's number: "Yes: it should arrive over Peppol", "Probably, but check the points below" or "No: it won't arrive over Peppol as things stand". For your own number: your business is ready to receive it over Peppol, mostly ready, or can't receive it over Peppol yet.
3. The Peppol access point, with its rank in our market-share sample and a link to its profile when we have one. How the sample is drawn: methodology.
4. A checklist, each point marked OK, warning, problem or note: the number is registered on Peppol, and under which ID; the access point's record answers; the chosen document is accepted; the access point's certificate is valid, expires within 30 days, or has expired.
5. The address to use in your invoicing software, with a copy button: the exact Peppol ID to send to.
6. Technical details (folded): the Peppol ID, the access point, its Peppol seat ID, the access point's country, the directory host (SMP) where the registration is held, the certificate's expiry date, when the check ran, and every document type it accepts. Results are cached for up to 24 hours.

We show no names or contact details, only technical data about the registration of the number you typed. There is no reverse search: you can't list a provider's customers.

Why check?

From 1 April 2029, VAT-registered businesses will have to issue their VAT invoices as e-invoices and be able to receive them, and Peppol will be the core network ^[3][7]. Until then, e-invoicing is optional. You can send a VAT invoice electronically, even as a PDF, if your customer agrees ^[5]. So today the lookup answers a practical question: can this customer already receive an e-invoice over Peppol? Read more in UK e-invoicing from 1 April 2029.

You can also check your own business, e.g. after your accounting software registered you on Peppol.

How it works

On the Peppol network, a UK business is usually registered under scheme 9932, the code for a "United Kingdom VAT number" ^[1]. The Peppol ID then looks like 9932:gb123456789. Most UK registrations include the "gb" prefix, a few leave it out, so we check both forms. We resolve the address in the network's central address book and in the address register (SMP) where the business is registered, the same way an access point does before it sends an invoice. The Peppol Directory ^[6], which many people use for searching, is a catalogue that can lag behind.

Which identifiers the UK will accept for the 2029 requirement is not decided yet. The UK has no single identifier for all types of organisation, and the government will decide between October 2027 and April 2028 ^[7]. Until then, the VAT number under scheme 9932 is what most UK registrations use.

Some organisations are registered under other identifiers, such as a GS1 Global Location Number (scheme 0088) ^[1]. The lookup searches by VAT number only. If you know a business's full Peppol ID, paste it whole, starting with the scheme code (e.g. 0088:).

Only the number is sent to our server, and the result is cached for up to 24 hours.

If there is no result

• The business isn't registered as a Peppol recipient yet. Most UK businesses aren't, because e-invoicing is not required before 2029 ^[7].
• The business is not VAT-registered. It won't have a 9932 ID, and it won't be obliged to e-invoice ^[4].
• The business is registered under another identifier, or under another company's VAT number, e.g. a VAT group.
• The registration is being changed, e.g. during a software switch.

The lookup shows the Peppol registration at the time of the lookup. It does not confirm that a particular invoice will be delivered.