EU VAT Number (Generic) Regex for Java

What this pattern does

This page provides a comprehensive, battle-tested regular expression for matching eu vat number (generic), ported and verified for Java. Financial data validation has zero tolerance for false negatives — a missed invalid entry can corrupt downstream calculations. The snippet below is ready to drop into your Java project — whether you're validating in a Spring Boot controller, a Jakarta EE service, or a standalone utility class.

Java Implementation

// EU VAT Number (Generic)
// ReDoS-safe | RegexVault — Finance > Tax & Registration

import java.util.regex.Pattern;

public class EuVatNumberGenericValidator {
    private static final Pattern PATTERN =
        Pattern.compile("^(?!US)(?![0-9]+$)(?:(?:AT)?U[0-9]{8}|(?:BE)?0[0-9]{9}|(?:BG)?[0-9]{9,10}|(?:CY)?[0-9]{8}[A-Z]|(?:CZ)?[0-9]{8,10}|(?:DE)?[0-9]{9}|(?:DK)?[0-9]{8}|(?:EE)?[0-9]{9}|(?:EL|GR)?[0-9]{9}|(?:ES)?[A-Z][0-9]{7}[A-Z]|(?:FI)?[0-9]{8}|(?:FR)?[A-Z0-9]{2}[0-9]{9}|(?:HR)?[0-9]{11}|(?:HU)?[0-9]{8}|(?:IE)?[0-9][A-Z0-9+*][0-9]{5}[A-Z]{1,2}|(?:IT)?[0-9]{11}|(?:LT)?(?:[0-9]{9}|[0-9]{12})|(?:LU)?[0-9]{8}|(?:LV)?[0-9]{11}|(?:MT)?[0-9]{8}|(?:NL)?[0-9]{9}B[0-9]{2}|(?:PL)?[0-9]{10}|(?:PT)?[0-9]{9}|(?:RO)?[0-9]{2,10}|(?:SE)?[0-9]{12}|(?:SI)?[0-9]{8}|(?:SK)?[0-9]{10})$");

    public static boolean validate(String input) {
        return PATTERN.matcher(input).matches();
    }

    // Example
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println(validate("DE123456789")); // true
    }
}

Test Cases

When to use this pattern

This pattern is drawn from the Finance > Tax & Registration category and carries a ReDoS-safe certification. That matters for Java developers because critical in Java applications since the JVM regex engine uses backtracking and is susceptible to ReDoS without careful pattern design. RegexVault audits patterns against known backtracking attack vectors, ensuring you have the necessary context before using this regex in a high-stakes production environment.

Common Pitfalls

Technical Notes

Each EU member state has a distinct VAT number format. This pattern covers all 27 EU member states. The country prefix is optional in this pattern — some systems present numbers without it. UK (GB) left SEPA in 2021 but the pattern is included for legacy data.