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Liechtenstein

Check Liechtenstein VAT numbers

Validate Liechtenstein VAT numbers (UID) against the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BFS). Under the 1923 Swiss-Liechtenstein VAT union, LI businesses use the same CHE-prefix UID format as Swiss companies, so LI lookups route to the same BFS register. Responses include the company name, registered address, and the vatRegistered flag.

Swiss-LI VAT union (non-EU)UID — MehrwertsteuerCHF

Try it

curl -X POST "https://api.vatverify.dev/v1/validate" \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VATVERIFY_KEY" \  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \  -d '{"vat_number":"CHE-269.568.556"}'
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Facts

Format

Prefix
CHE-
Digits
9
Regex
^CHE-?\d{3}\.?\d{3}\.?\d{3}$
ValidCHE-269.568.556
Bad checksumCHE-269.568.559
Bad formatCHE-269568556

Registry

BFS UID powers /v1/validate for Liechtenstein.

Official registry Live status →

VAT rates (CHF)

8.1%
Standard
3.8%
Reduced

hotel and B&B accommodation (including breakfast)

2.6%
Reduced

food staples, non-alcoholic beverages, books, newspapers, medicines, plants, cultural events

What we return for Liechtenstein

{
  "data": {
    "valid": true,                       // boolean validity at query time
    "vat_number": "CHE-116.281.710",
    "country": { "code": "CH", "name": "Switzerland" },
    "company": {
      "name": "Nestlé S.A.",             // registered business name
      "address": "..."
    },
    "vat_registered": true,              // separate flag, not every UID pays VAT
    "verified_at": "2026-04-25T10:00:00Z"
  },
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "019dc...",
    "source": "bfs",
    "source_status": "live"
  }
}

Watch out for

  • Liechtenstein does not maintain its own VAT registry. LI VAT IDs use the Swiss CHE- prefix and resolve through BFS.
  • The Swiss-Liechtenstein VAT treaty (1923) means intra-CH-LI trade is treated as domestic, and EU imports go through Switzerland.
  • vatverify routes LI validation to the BFS UID register just like CH, so downstream invoice logic stays identical.

Liechtenstein is part of the Swiss VAT union

Since 1923, Liechtenstein and Switzerland have operated a unified customs and VAT territory. In practical terms: Liechtenstein businesses don't get a separate national VAT register. They get a CHE-prefix UID from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BFS), same as Swiss businesses.

That means:

  • There is no .li VAT endpoint. Validation routes to the same BFS UID register that Swiss numbers hit.
  • LI numbers are structurally indistinguishable from CH numbers (both CHE-xxx.xxx.xxx). The jurisdiction is inferred from the registered business address that BFS returns, not the number itself.
  • Intra-CH-LI trade is treated as domestic. EU imports into LI go through the Swiss customs union.

Practical implication for EU sellers

If you're an EU seller shipping to a Liechtenstein customer, the customer's VAT ID looks Swiss. Your invoice logic should treat CH and LI identically (both non-EU, both handled as export to the Swiss-Liechtenstein VAT union). Our /v1/validate response uses country: "LI" when BFS returns a Liechtenstein business address, letting downstream code branch on country without re-parsing the VAT string.

Why this distinction matters in practice

For most goods supplies, treating CH and LI identically is the right answer. Several scenarios require knowing which side of the Rhine the customer actually sits on:

  • Place-of-supply for B2B services: if you need to file a recapitulative statement (EC Sales List or its national equivalent), the destination column requires the actual country, not "Swiss customs union."
  • Bilateral agreements: some EU countries have bilateral protocols with Liechtenstein (notably in financial services) that do not extend to Switzerland.
  • Sanctions and transparency reporting: Liechtenstein and Switzerland appear separately on most beneficial-ownership and AML watchlists.

The address-based country resolution in our response covers all these cases. You get the actual jurisdiction from BFS without having to maintain a side table of LI-vs-CH disambiguation.

Liechtenstein is in EEA, not EU

For goods and services rules more generally, Liechtenstein is in the EEA but not the EU, similar to Norway. EU-VAT-free intra-community supply rules do not apply to LI exports. Reverse charge is the exception, not the default.

This catches sellers who default-bucket "EEA" together with "EU" in their tax engine. Liechtenstein customers should follow the same treatment as Swiss customers (export, with origin-country VAT logic), not the same as German or French customers.

Liechtenstein as a financial-services counterparty

A noticeable share of B2B vatverify lookups for LI numbers come from financial services flows: wealth management, fiduciary, fund administration. Liechtenstein hosts a concentration of fiduciaries and financial intermediaries, many of which buy software services and infrastructure from EU vendors.

If you're running a SaaS that bills LI financial counterparties, two things tend to come up in audits:

  1. The customer's BFS-registered business address is the key piece of evidence for place-of-supply. Cache the full BFS response on each validation, not just the boolean.
  2. The LI standard rate matches the Swiss standard rate (8.1% from January 2024). Historical invoices need date-aware rate lookups, just as for CH.

When LI-resolved numbers go invalid

The same failure modes as Swiss numbers apply: BFS deregistration after business closure, voluntary VAT-flag removal, or registration moved to a new UID after a corporate restructuring. Cases unique to LI most often trace back to dissolved trustee entities, a feature of the local economy where holding structures are formed and unwound more frequently than in most jurisdictions.

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Automate Liechtenstein VAT checks in your stack

Replace manual lookups with one API call against BFS UID. Drops into invoicing, checkout, and signup flows in any language. 500 free validations per month, no credit card.

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