A value added tax identification number or VAT identification number (VATIN) is an identifier used in many countries, including the countries of the European Union, for value added tax purposes.
In the EU, a VAT identification number can be verified online at the EU’s official VIES[1] website. It confirms that the number is currently allocated and can provide the name or other identifying details of the entity to whom the identifier has been allocated. However, many national governments will not give out VAT identification numbers due to data protection laws.
The full identifier starts with an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 (2 letters) country code (except for Greece, which uses the ISO 639-1 language code EL for the Greek language, instead of its ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code GR) and then has between 2 and 13 characters. The identifiers are composed of numeric digits in most countries, but in some countries they may contain letters.
Foreign companies that trade with non-enterprises in the EU may have a VATIN starting with “EU” instead of a country code, e.g. Godaddy USA EU826010755 and Amazon USA AWS EU826009064.[2]
VAT numbers by country
European Union VAT identification numbers
Country | Local name | Abbreviation | 2 digit prefix | Format[3][4] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Austria | Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer | UID | AT | ‘AT’+U+8 digits, – e.g. ATU99999999 |
Belgium | BTW identificatienummer / Numéro de TVA | n° TVABTW-nr Mwst-nr | BE | ‘BE’+ 10 digits, the first digit following the prefix is always zero (“0”) or (“1”) – e.g. BE0999999999. At this time no numbers starting with “1” are issued, but this can happen any time. Note that the old numbering schema only had 9 characters, separated with dots (e.g. 999.999.999), just adding a zero in front and removing the dots makes it a valid number in the new schema. |
Bulgaria | Идентификационен номер по ДДС[5] Identifikacionen nomer po DDS |
ДДС номер | BG | 9–10 digits – e.g. BG999999999 |
Croatia | PDV Id. Broj OIB | PDV-ID; OIB | HR | 11 digit number (ex. HR12345678901) utilising ISO 7064, MOD 11-10 |
Cyprus | Αριθμός Εγγραφής Φ.Π.Α. Arithmós Engraphḗs phi. pi. a. |
ΦΠΑ | CY | 9 characters – e.g. CY99999999L |
Czech Republic | Daňové identifikační číslo | DIČ | CZ | ‘CZ’+8-10 digits |
Denmark | Momsregistreringsnummer | CVR | DK | 8 digits – e.g. DK99999999,[6] last digit is check digit[7] |
Estonia | Käibemaksukohustuslase number | KMKR | EE | 9 digits |
Finland | Arvonlisäveronumero Mervärdesskattenummer |
ALV nro Momsnummer |
FI | 8 digits – e.g. FI99999999,[8] last digit is a check digit utilizing MOD 11-2 |
France | Numéro d’identification à la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée / Numéro de TVA intracommunautaire | n° TVA | FR | ‘FR’+ 2 digits (as validation key ) + 9 digits (as SIREN), the first and/or the second value can also be a character – e.g. FRXX999999999The French key is calculated as follow : Key = [ 12 + 3 * ( SIREN modulo 97 ) ] modulo 97, for example : Key = [ 12 + 3 * ( 404,833,048 modulo 97 ) ] modulo 97 = [12 + 3*56] modulo 97 = 180 modulo 97 = 83 so the tax number for 404,833,048 is FR 83,404,833,048 source from : www.insee.fr |
Germany | Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer | USt-IdNr. | DE | 9 digits, e.g. DE999999999 |
Greece | Arithmós Forologikou Mētrṓou Αριθμός Φορολογικού Μητρώου |
ΑΦΜ | EL and GR | The language code EL according to ISO 639-1, followed by 9 digits, which equal the Greek taxpayer registration number Α.Φ.Μ. (A.F.M.) of the company or of the sole proprietor, i.e.: “Arithmós Mētrṓou Phi-Pi-A” = “EL” + “A.F.M.”. The last digit is a check digit inherent of the Α.Φ.Μ. Beware: Due to the great similarity of both numbers – the one being the same number as the other, just having the prefix of EL – in practice sometimes the VAT identification number is wrongly called Α.Φ.Μ. (A.F.M.), but technically the VAT identification number and the taxpayer registration number Α.Φ.Μ. are different register numbers and should not be confused. |
Hungary | Közösségi adószám | ANUM | HU | 8 digits (the first 8 digits of the national tax number) – e.g. HU12345678 |
Ireland | Value added tax identification no. | VAT or CBL | IE | ‘IE’+7 digits and one letter, optionally followed by a ‘W’ for married women, e.g. IE1234567T or IE1234567TW ‘IE’+7 digits and two letters, e.g. IE1234567FA (since January 2013, see [2]) ‘IE’+one digit, one letter/”+”/”*”, 5 digits and one letter (old style, currently being phased out, see [3]) |
Italy | Partita IVA(IVA = Imposta sul Valore Aggiunto) | P.IVA | IT | 11 digits (the first 7 digits is a progressive number, the following 3 means the province of residence, the last digit is a check number) |
Latvia | Pievienotās vērtības nodokļa (PVN) reģistrācijas numurs | PVN | LV | 11 digits |
Lithuania | PVM (abbrev. Pridėtinės vertės mokestis) mokėtojo kodas | PVM kodas | LT | 9 or 12 digits |
Luxembourg | Numéro d’identification à la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée | No. TVA | LU | 8 digits |
Malta | Vat reg. no. | Vat No. | MT | 8 digits |
Netherlands | Btw-nummer | Btw-nr. | NL | ‘NL’+9 digits+B+2-digit company index – e.g. NL999999999B99 |
Poland | numer identyfikacji podatkowej | NIP | PL | 10 digits, the last one is a check digit; for convenience the digits are separated by hyphens (xxx-xxx-xx-xx or xxx-xx-xx-xxx for legal people), but formally the number consists only of digits |
Portugal | Número de Identificação Fiscal (NIF) – for individual people / Número de Identificação de Pessoa Coletiva (NIPC) – for companies | NIF or NIPC | PT | 9 digits; the last digit is the check digit. The first digit depends on what the number refers to, e.g.: 1-3 are regular people, 5 are companies. |
Romania | Codul de identificare fiscală | CIF | RO | 2–10 digits; the last digit is the check digit |
Slovakia | Identifikačné číslo pre daň z pridanej hodnoty | IČ DPH | SK | ‘SK’+10 digits (number must be divisible by 11) |
Slovenia | Davčna številka | ID za DDV | SI | ‘SI’+8 digits, last one is a check digit – e.g. SI99999999[9] |
Spain | Número de Identificación Fiscal (formerly named Código de Identificación Fiscal) | NIF (CIF) | ES | For companies it’s either ‘ES’+letter+8 digits or ‘ES’+letter+7 digits+letter. Where the first letter defines the type of company and the following first 2 digits define the province where the company was registered. The last character is a control digit.For individual people / freelancers, its either ‘ES’+8 digits+letter (for Spaniards) or ‘ES’+letter+7 digits+letter (for foreigners). e.g. ES99999999R |
Sweden | VAT-nummer or momsnummer or momsregistreringsnummer | Momsnr. | SE | 12 digits, of which the last two are most often 01 e.g. SE999999999901. (For sole proprietors who have several businesses the numbers can be 02, 03 and so on, since sole proprietors only have their personnummer as the organisationsnummer. The first 10 digits are the same as the Swedish organisationsnummer.[10] |
United Kingdom and Isle of Man | Value added tax registration number | VAT Reg No | GB | Country code GB followed by either:
For the 9-digit scheme, the 2-digit block containing the 8th and 9th digits is always in the range 00 to 96 and is derived from a weighted modulus-97 check number (an identical algorithm is used for the 12-digit scheme, ignoring the extra 3-digit block).[11] The current modulus-97 series ran out during 2010, so a parallel series of numbers was introduced from November 2009 for new registrations, restarting at 100 nnnn nn and following the same format but with the last two digits derived from an alternative algorithm known as “9755”.[12] The algorithm is identical to the one for the established series except that 55 is subtracted to give the check number (modulus 97), so the check number is either 55 less than or (if this would be negative) 42 greater than the check number that a VAT number in the established series would have if it were identical in the first seven digits.[13] The details of the 97−55 check algorithm were to be secret[14] but are now available from HMRC on request.[15] The GD and HA formats may also be formatted as GB888 8xxx yy for EU compatibility, where xxx is the 3-digit number from the short format and yy is the 2-digit modulus-97 check number.[16] Isle of Man registrations share the 9- and 12-digit formats with the UK, with GB as the country code prefix, but are distinguished by having 00 as the first two digits.[17] Numbers with 01 to 09 in the first two digits are reserved by HM Revenue & Customs for UK non-VAT reference schemes.[13] |
VAT numbers of non-EU countries
Country | Local name | Abbreviation | Country code | Format[18] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Albania | Numri i Identifikimit për Personin e Tatueshëm | NIPT | AL | 10 characters, the first position following the prefix is “J” or “K”, and the last character is a letter – e.g. (AL)K99999999L or (AL)J99999999L (L = Letter) |
Australia | Australian Business Number | ABN | AU | 11 digit number formed from a 9 digit unique identifier and two prefix check digits. The two leading digits (the check digits) will be derived from the subsequent 9 digits using a modulus 89 check digit calculation. |
Belarus | Учетный номер плательщика Uchetniy nomer platel’shika |
УНП (UNP) | BY | 9 digit number (ex. УНП 190190190) |
Canada | Business Number Numéro d’entreprise |
BN / NE | CA | 9 characters |
Iceland | Virðisaukaskattsnúmer Value Added Tax Number |
VSK / VASK | IS | 6 characters |
India | Value Added Tax – Taxpayer Identification Number / Central Sales Tax – Taxpayer Identification Number (In most states) | VAT TIN / CST TIN | IN | 11 digit number followed by V, to indicate VAT TIN (or by C to indicate CST TIN). First two digits identify the state where the registration is done, e.g. 27 indicates State of Maharashtra. The system was introduced with effect from 2006-04-01. |
Indonesia | Nomor Pokok Wajib Pajak | NPWP | ID | 15 digit number (ex. 02.271.824.1-413.000) |
Israel | מס’ עוסק מורשה / ח”פ | IL | 9 digit number. If the number of digits is less than 9, then zeros should be padded to the left side. The leftmost digit is 5 for corporations. Other leftmost digits are used for individuals. The rightmost digit is a check digit (using Luhn algorithm). | |
Monaco | Same as France | FR | ||
New Zealand | NZ Business Number | NZBN | NZ | 13 digit number (companiesoffice.govt.nz) |
Norway | Organisasjonsnummer Organization number |
Orgnr | NO | 9 digits and the letters ‘MVA’ to indicate VAT registration. Last (ninth) digit is a MOD11 checksum digit.[19] |
Philippines | Tax Identification Number | TIN | PH | 12 digit number (ex. xxx xxx xxx xxx) |
Russia | Идентификационный номер налогоплательщика Indentifikatzionny nomer nalogoplatel’shchika (Taxpayer Identification Number) |
ИНН | RU | 10 digits (companies) or 12 digits (people), first two digits are region of birth or company registration (for foreign companies, two digits after leading 99) MOD 11-10 second two- inspection (before the year 2004, it changed, now stays). for legal personality use the changeable second code (KPP), usually first 4 digits are the same (99-region rule does not apply), usually and default XXXX01001. KPP is also the counter (last 3 digts) The number of KPP’s is limited to number of tax inspections in regions other than 77 and 50 (one and only for each) plus one code for the largest companies. |
San Marino | Codice operatore economico | C.O.E. | SM | 5 digits |
Serbia | Poreski identifikacioni broj Tax identification number |
PIB | RS | 9 digits (ex. 129456789) of which the first 8 are the actual ID number, and the last digit is a checksum digit, calculated according to ISO 7064, MOD 11-10 |
Switzerland | Mehrwertsteuernummer | MWST/TVA/IVA | CH | 6 digits (up to 31/12/2013). CHE 9 numeric digits plus TVA/MWST/IVA e.g. CHE-123.456.788 TVA[20] The last digit is a MOD11 checksum digit build with weighting pattern: 5,4,3,2,7,6,5,4[21] |
Turkey | Vergi Kimlik Numarası | TR | 10 digits Digits can be any number between 0 and 9. If the company name starts with A, the first digit is 0; if starts with B, it is 1; if it starts with Y or Z it is 9, hence fort. |
|
Ukraine | Ідентифікаційний номер платника податків Identyfikacijnyj nomer platnyka podatkiv |
ІНПП | UA | 10 digits |
Uzbekistan | Солиқ тўловчиларнинг идентификация рақами[22] | СТИР | UZ | 9 digitsCompanies: 20000000Х-29999999Х
People: 40000000Х-79999999Х |
VAT numbers of Latin American countries
Country | Local name | Abbreviation | Country code | Format |
---|---|---|---|---|
Argentina | Código Único de Identificación Tributaria | CUIT | AR | 11 digits |
Bolivia | Número de Identificación Tributaria | NIT | BO | 7 digits |
Brazil | Cadastro Nacional de Pessoa Jurídica (Companies)[23] or Cadastro de Pessoa Física (Legal People)[24] | CNPJ or CPF | BR | CNPJ composed of a base of 8 digits, a 4-digit radical, and 2 check digits. It is usually written like ‘11.111.111/0001-55’ so as to be more human-readable and CPF composed of a base of 9 digits and 2 check digits written like ‘123.456.789-00’ |
Chile | Rol Único Tributario Unique Taxation Number |
RUT | CL | 8 digits, one dash, 1 check digit (0-9, K) |
Colombia | Número De Identificación Tributaria | NIT | CO | 9 digits and 1 check digit |
Costa Rica | Cédula Jurídica | CR | Personas físicas nacionales: 9 and 12 digits. It is the Cédula de Persona Física (person’s national identification number) without hyphens.Personas físicas extranjeras: 10 and 12 digits. It is the NITE (Número de Identificación Tributaria Especial) without hyphens.
Persona jurídica: 10 and 12 digits. It is the Cédula de Persona Jurídica (enterprise’s national identification number) without hyphens. Persona extranjera (residente): 11 and 12 digits. It is the DIMEX (Documento de Identificación de Migración y Extranjería) without hyphens. |
|
Ecuador | Número de Registro Unico de Contribuyentes | RUC | EC | 13 digits |
El Salvador | Número de Identificación Tributaria | NIT | SV | 4 digits-DOB-3 digits-1 digit (like 0614-241287-102-5 |
Guatemala | Número de Identificación Tributaria | NIT | GT | seven digits, one dash (-); one digit (like 1234567-1) |
Honduras | Registro Tributario Nacional | RTN | HN | |
Mexico | Registro Federal de Contribuyentes | RFC | MX | Natural: 4 digits, 6 numbers (YYMMDD), 3 digits (like AAGB860519G31)Companies: 3 digits, 6 numbers (YYMMDD), 3 digits (like P&G851223B24) |
Nicaragua | Registro Unico de Contribuyentes | RUC | NI | 3 digits, 1 dash, 6 digits, 1 dash, 4 digits followed by 1 letter, |
Panama | Registro Unico de Contribuyentes | RUC | PA | |
Paraguay | Registro Unico de Contribuyentes | RUC | PY | 6 digits, 1 dash, 1 check sum digit |
Peru | Registro Unico de Contribuyentes | RUC | PE | 11 digits |
Dominican Republic | Registro Nacional del Contribuyente | RNC | DO | Legal People: 11 digits without hyphen.Companies: 9 digits without hyphen. |
Uruguay | Registro Único Tributario | RUT | UY | 12 digits |
Venezuela | Registro de Informacion Fiscal | RIF | VE | First digit must be (J, G, V, E), one dash (-), next 9 (nine) numbers like J-305959918, in some cases can be written like J-30595991-8 |
See also
References
- Electronically supplied services: Special scheme for non-EU Businesses, HM Revenue and Customs, reference: VAT Info Sheet 07/03, May 2003 Archived 13 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
- EUROPA site – Validation
- “IdEG” (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2006. Retrieved 1 October 2006.
- “BULSTAT”. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 2 October 2007.
- http://www.erhvervsstyrelsen.dk/hvad_er_cvr
- http://www.erhvervsstyrelsen.dk/modulus_11[permanent dead link]
- http://tarkistusmerkit.teppovuori.fi/tarkmerk.htm#y-tunnus2
- [1] Ministry of Finance – Tax Administration of the Republic of Slovenia
- Momsregistreringsnummer Swedish tax agency (in Swedish)
- SIMA sl EU27 VAT code computing (unofficial validation form and algorithms for EU VAT identification numbers)
- Minutes of VAT Software Developer Forum held on 10 March 2009
- Quayle, Stan. “VAT Registration Numbers – New series”. VAT Developer Forum – 10 March 2009 (PowerPoint slides, zipped file). HM Revenue & Customs. pp. 34–41. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
- Minutes of Self Assessment Technical Workshop held on 25 November 2008
- Joint VAT Consultative Committee (10 September 2009). “Minutes of the 73rd JVCC meeting held on Friday 8 May 2009”. JVCC No 2, action point AP 8/09. HM Revenue & Customs. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
Agreed to publish on request, and make available to JVCC, but not to include on website in case it confuses and provokes low value contact.
- V1-28 Registration Vol 1, HM Revenue & Customs
- VAT Trader Enrolment Help, Isle of Man Government
- VAT Number Explanation
- “Archived copy”. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
- “Die UID”. www.bfs.admin.ch (in German). Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- “Unternehmens-Identifikationsnummer (UID)”. www.uid.ch (in German). Retrieved 2015-10-14.
- “ЎЗБЕКИСТОН РЕСПУБЛИКАСИДА СОЛИҚ ТЎЛОВЧИЛАРНИНГ ИДЕНТИФИКАЦИЯ РАҚАМЛАРИНИ БЕРИШ ВА ҚЎЛЛАШ ТИЗИМИ ТЎҒРИСИДА”. www.lex.uz. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
- pt:Cadastro Nacional da Pessoa Jurídica
- pt:Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas
External links
- VIES, European “VAT Information Exchange System”.
- Bulk \ Batch VIES VAT number validation service, VAT number validation service”.