Company Identification Number (UID) replaces six-digit VAT number.

From 2014, the UID in Switzerland replaces the old six-digit VAT number, a step initiated by the UID law that came into effect in 2011.

2013

Company Identification Number (UID) replaces six-digit VAT number.

The Company Identification Number (UID) will replace the six-digit VAT number from January 1, 2014. The Company Identification Number Law came into effect on January 1, 2011.

Company Identification Number

The UID Law came into effect on January 1, 2011, and results in every company in Switzerland being assigned a uniform identification number. The Company Identification Number, with the addition of VAT, replaces the previous six-digit VAT number.

Therefore, companies face the question of by when the VAT number must be adjusted. The main VAT department will use the previous number until the end of 2013, after which it will be called the reference number. This leads to a company currently having two VAT numbers, and it is permitted to use both. However, from the year 2014, only the new VAT number will be valid.

It is important to note that the Swiss Company Identification Number has the same abbreviation as the VAT number in the EU, but there are significant content differences. In the EU, the VAT Identification Number is used exclusively for intra-community services.

A company based in Switzerland, which does not provide services in the EU, is not dependent on a VAT Identification Number.

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