Validate Tax IDs

Overview

Tax ID Validator removes spaces and hyphens from `taxid` and requires exactly nine digits; anything else returns `valid: false`, `type` Unknown, a format error and a fixed `risk_score` of 50. The type is then inferred from shape alone. A number starting with 9 is treated as an ITIN. A number written with a hyphen after the second digit (XX-XXXXXXX) is treated as an EIN. Every other nine-digit number is treated as an SSN. Because the leading 9 check runs first, an EIN with a 9x prefix is classified and validated as an ITIN, so send hyphen-formatted EINs and read `type` before trusting the result.

SSN rules reject area 000, 666 and 900 to 999, group 00 and serial 0000, stopping at the first failure, which is reported in `error` and the matching `validation_details` flag. EINs must start with one of the two-digit prefixes the IRS has assigned; unassigned prefixes such as 07, 08, 09, 17 or 89 fail `prefix_valid`. ITINs must have middle digits in 50 to 65, 70 to 88, 90 to 92 or 94 to 99, checked by `itin_range_valid`.

`normalized` is the hyphenated standard form, `digits_only` the bare digits, `last4` the final four, and `masked` hides all but those four (***-**-6789, or **-****6789 for an EIN). `taxid` echoes the input as sent. `is_placeholder` is true for all-identical digits or a strict ascending or descending run such as 123456789. `risk_score` adds 40 for a failed rule and 35 for a placeholder, so a valid placeholder scores 35; `risk_level` is high at 60 or above, medium at 25 or above, otherwise low. On the Free plan `type`, `type_full`, `format`, `is_placeholder`, the risk fields and the SSN component flags are null.

Live Test Validate Tax IDs Source →

Formula

One function covers the whole catalog: the first argument names the source, the next are its inputs, and the field after them says which single value lands in the cell. Formulas covers the grammar that applies to all of them.

=VERVE("taxidvalidator", A2, "valid")

=VERVE.CALL("taxidvalidator", A2, "valid")

A2 holds the taxid you are looking up. Drag the formula down and each row resolves on its own.

With literal values

Nothing has to come from a cell — typed values work the same way.

=VERVE("taxidvalidator", "123-45-6789", "valid")

=VERVE.CALL("taxidvalidator", "123-45-6789", "valid")

Inputs

Required inputs are positional, in the order below, followed by the field. Everything else is passed as a "name", value pair after that — the same shape as SUMIFS. Premium inputs are accepted on every plan but only take effect on plans that include them.

What lands in your sheet

The field — the argument after the inputs — is what makes the formula resolve to one cell. Its value is a dot-path from the table below, so swapping it is how you pull a different value — one formula per column.

Seeing everything at once

Leave the field out and the formula returns the whole response instead: two columns, field name on the left and value on the right, spilling from the cell you typed in.

=VERVE("taxidvalidator", A2)

=VERVE.CALL("taxidvalidator", A2)

Response fields

Paths are relative to data. Each one is exactly what the field argument accepts, so swapping it is how you pull a different value into a cell. On a plan without a Premium field the cell reads #PREMIUM(field) rather than a value, so a locked field never looks like a real answer.

Filling a whole column

Both platforms make one batched call for a column rather than one request per cell, and both cost the same — 10 credits per row looked up. How you write it differs, because the two runtimes batch at different points.

=VERVE("taxidvalidator", A2:A100, "valid")

In Google Sheets, give the arguments ranges and the answers spill down from the cell you typed in. Custom functions there run synchronously and in isolation, so dragged cells cannot be coalesced — the range form is how a column becomes one call. The field is required here: a per-row two-column table has nowhere to spill. Use a full column per input (A2:A100, not A2) — a single-cell reference is read as row 1 only and the rest of the column comes back blank.

In Excel, type the formula once and fill down — no range form and none needed, because its runtime is asynchronous and the add-in coalesces the calls a fill produces into a single batched request. Do not hand VERVE.CALL a range: Excel flattens it into positional arguments, so A2:A100 arrives as a hundred separate arguments and the cell reads #ERR rather than filling.

Either way, column A holds your taxid values and the answers land beside them, one row each, blank rows skipped.

When a cell doesn't fill

A failed lookup returns readable text starting with #ERR rather than a spreadsheet error, because Excel cannot show a custom message on a real error — you would get a bare #VALUE! with no reason. The trade-off is that IFERROR() will not catch it; test with LEFT(cell, 4) = "#ERR" instead. Error handling covers the rest.

Before the formula works

The add-in reads the API key you saved once in the side panel — the key never goes in the formula, so a shared sheet does not leak it and a collaborator without access simply sees the last calculated values.

1. Install the add-in for Google Sheets or Excel.
2. Open the side panel and sign in, or paste a key from your dashboard.
3. Type the formula above into any cell.

Use cases

Form Validation

Validate Tax IDs in online forms and applications to ensure correct format before submission

Compliance

Verify Tax ID format compliance for tax reporting, payroll processing, and financial services

Data Quality

Validate Tax IDs in databases during data cleaning and migration to identify invalid entries

Identity Verification

Check Tax ID format as part of identity verification processes while maintaining privacy with masking

Other ways to use Validate Tax IDs

Set up Validate Tax IDs on VerveSheets, or reach the same source a different way. Your VerveSheets account and credits work on all of them — one key, one balance.

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