Lithuanian VAT Numbers: VIES Address Issue Explained

Run a Lithuanian VAT number through the European Commission's VIES checker and the result looks a little strange. The number is valid. The company name is there. The address field says "N/A".

This has been the case since at least September 2026, and it applies to every Lithuanian VAT payer. Lithuania's State Tax Inspectorate (VMI) clarified VATabout that the Commission restricted the display of Lithuanian addresses over data protection concerns about publishing individuals' addresses. VMI has asked for the addresses to be restored and is still waiting for an answer.

For Lithuanian businesses selling on eBay.de, this has meant trouble. Sellers in a Lithuanian eBay sellers' group on Facebook report accounts blocked over a VAT address "mismatch", even after copying their address word for word from VMI and the Centre of Registers. eBay says it does not suspend sellers for that reason alone and has put temporary protections on affected accounts.

This article sets out what changed, what VMI and eBay told VATabout, and what affected sellers can do.

What Changed in VIES

VIES holds no data of its own. Each query goes in real time to the database of the EU country that issued the number. The public VIES-on-the-Web application then displays what comes back.

VATabout queried the VAT numbers of four large Lithuanian companies through the Commission's public VIES interface on October 22, 2026. Some replies arrived with earlier time-stamps, which gives a rough timeline:

VMI says the change was noticed in September 2026.

Only Lithuania is affected. On the same day, VAT numbers from Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, France, Italy, Czechia and Croatia all returned full addresses. Latvia's VIES service was unavailable at the time.

The wording is unusual too. When an EU country withholds data, VIES normally shows "---", as it does for German numbers. Lithuanian numbers return the literal text "N/A".

Why the Address Was Removed

Under Article 31 of Council Regulation (EU) No 904/2010, EU countries must let businesses involved in intra-EU supplies confirm electronically that a VAT number is valid. Article 31(2) adds that each EU country must confirm the name and address of the number's holder, "in accordance with its national data protection rules".

That clause is why VIES looks different from country to country. Most states show both name and address. Germany shows neither. The Commission's Your Europe page on VIES puts the general position bluntly: "Due to data protection, the national authorities will not supply the name and address corresponding to a VAT number."

Lithuania's case is different. According to VMI, nothing changed in what Lithuania sends. Martynas Endrijaitis, Head of the State Tax Inspectorate under the Ministry of Finance, told VATabout:

"The scope of the data Lithuania provides to VIES and the way it is provided have not changed. The display of Lithuanian VAT payers' addresses in the public VIES-on-the-Web application was restricted because of the publication of natural persons' addresses and the related personal data protection issues. In parallel, this data protection issue was also being addressed on the Lithuanian side."

The restriction was not limited to individuals.

"The change made by the European Commission covered all Lithuanian VAT payers, which is why the addresses of legal entities are currently not displayed either."

VMI contacted the Commission in early October 2026 and asked it to restore the addresses while protecting individuals’ data. It had received no reply when it answering to VATabout’s questions and could not give a timeline. By then, VMI had received more than 50 enquiries about the problem. VMI's own guidance page on checking EU VAT numbers still says Lithuanian VIES results include an address. VMI says it will be updated shortly.

What eBay Says

eBay does not use VIES to check Lithuanian sellers. An eBay spokesperson told VATabout: "Verification of Lithuanian VAT numbers at eBay is done via BZSt API only." eBay said it had noticed that VIES no longer shows the address for Lithuanian numbers.

In plain terms, Germany’s Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) checks Lithuanian numbers directly, bypassing the public VIES display. Under Section 18e of the German VAT Act, the BZSt confirms on request whether a VAT number issued by another EU country is valid, together with the holder’s name and address. Its qualified confirmation compares trade name (including legal form), town, postcode and street with the issuing state’s register. It returns a result for each field without revealing the stored data (see the interface documentation).

In theory, that route avoids the VIES problem. VMI says only the public display changed:

"Lithuanian VAT payers' data remain available to the tax administrations of other EU Member States via the internal VIES channel, so the German tax administration can carry out such a check."

Yet eBay has seen mismatches anyway.

"We identified sellers whose VAT ID verification results unexpectedly showed an address mismatch and applied temporary measures to protect their accounts from enforcement."

Neither eBay nor VMI explained why BZSt checks would flag a mismatch if the underlying data is still there. That remains open.

On suspensions, eBay's position is: "eBay does not suspend sellers solely due to an address mismatch identified during Lithuanian VAT ID verification." Some sellers describe it differently. One post in the Facebook group reported two eBay.de accounts blocked over the VAT address.

Asked how many accounts were affected, eBay gave no number: "We have been closely monitoring Lithuanian VAT ID verification results and applying temporary protections to accounts identified as potentially affected by the address verification issue."

How Affected Sellers Can Protect Their Accounts

Re-entering the address will not change what VIES shows. What helps is proof that the eBay account matches VMI's records, and eBay says it accepts that:

"Where a seller provides evidence confirming that their address on eBay matches the address currently registered with the Lithuanian tax authority for their VAT ID, we accept this as sufficient grounds to maintain the temporary protection on their account."

VMI points to two places to get that proof.

First, VMI's public taxpayer information. VMI publishes information about Lithuanian taxpayers, including the taxpayer code, VAT code, its validity, and the address. Endrijaitis said: "Until the issue of displaying addresses in VIES is resolved, this information can be used as an additional source for verifying VAT payer data."

Second, a VAT payer certificate. In Mano VMI, go to Services > VAT and registration > Issue of VAT payer certificate (Paslaugos > PVM mokestis ir registracija > PVM mokėtojo sertifikato išdavimas). The certificate states the VAT payer's name, VAT identification number, and address.

In practice, this means taht affected businesses should:

1. Compare the business details on your eBay account with VMI's record, including the legal form. They need to match exactly.
2. Order the VAT payer certificate.
3. If eBay has contacted you about a mismatch, reply with the certificate.
4. If your account is already restricted, contact eBay, send the certificate and refer to the temporary protection eBay described.
5. Keep copies of everything.

eBay's own advice to sellers is similar: review the business details, make sure they fully match the tax authority's records, ask the authority about the reason for any mismatch, and contact eBay for help with the account.

Key Takeaways

Lithuanian VAT registrations are still valid, and the VAT rules have not changed. What changed is the public view: after the Commission restricted the display over data protection concerns, VIES shows “N/A” instead of an address for every Lithuanian VAT payer.

VMI has asked the Commission to restore the addresses. There is no answer yet and no timeline. eBay checks Lithuanian sellers through the BZSt rather than VIES, and says it is shielding accounts where the address check fails. Why those BZSt checks fail at all is still unexplained.

For now, the safest course is to keep your eBay details identical to VMI’s records and have a VMI VAT payer certificate ready to send.