A Corporate Number is a unique 13-digit identification number assigned by the National Tax Agency. A Corporate Number is assigned to each corporation and is used for administrative procedures related to matters such as federal taxes, local taxes, and social security.

In this article, we’ll go over what you need to know about Corporate Numbers, including how these numbers are distributed, the effects of changing a corporation’s name or location, the benefits of Corporate Numbers, and how to look up Corporate Numbers.

What’s in this article?

• What is a Corporate Number?
  
• How do I search for a Corporate Number?
  
• Do all companies and organizations have a Corporate Number?
  

What is a Corporate Number?

A Corporate Number is a number used to file tax returns for corporate taxes, sales taxes, and similar. As mentioned above, it is a unique number, and each corporation is assigned only one. Corporate Numbers are available at the National Tax Agency’s Corporate Number Publication Site, meaning that anyone can look up the Corporate Number of a given corporation.

Corporate Numbers are sometimes referred to as ID numbers for corporations, or My Number for corporations. However, unlike a personal My Number, no card is issued for a Corporate Number. Also, unlike a My Number, a Corporate Number is not private, and Corporate Numbers can be used to look up a company’s partners. As a result, Corporate Numbers are widely used to simplify the process of obtaining information.

The following companies and organizations are assigned a business number:

• National institutions
  
• Local public organizations
  
• Established registered corporations (corporations formed and registered in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act or other laws and regulations)
  
• Corporations or noncorporate entities other than those listed above that are required to pay and file corporate and excise tax returns, or that are required to withhold income tax (noncorporate entities are not listed on the Corporate Number Publication Site without the approval of their representative or manager).
  

Are Corporate Numbers 12 or 13 digits long?

Corporate Numbers are 13-digit numbers formed by placing a single check digit in front of a 12-digit Company Number (base number).

These 12-digit Company Numbers are provided by the Ministry of Justice based on the Commercial Registration Act, and they are issued when a company completes the registration process upon incorporation. However, the 13-digit Corporate Number is usually used by most administrative institutions.

Obtaining a Corporate Number

A Corporate Number is automatically assigned to a company when it is incorporated and registered. At that time, three pieces of information—namely the Corporate Number, name, and location—will be displayed on the Corporate Number Publication Site within approximately one week.

There is usually no notification when the information is posted on this website. But after the incorporation and registration are completed, a notification of Corporate Number designation is sent to the registered office of the company to inform it that the National Tax Agency has assigned the company a Corporate Number.

Anyone planning to incorporate and register a company must complete various procedures and obtain a Corporate Number in order to incorporate their business. As a result, it’s important to ensure that you have sufficient time to complete the requirements before starting these procedures. It’s also key to optimize the accounting work that comes along with incorporation in order to open a business as smoothly as possible.

We recommend using software that can handle accounting as well as customized automations for calculating sales tax in response to various business requirements. For example, Stripe Tax automates processing related to consumption taxes for all electronic transactions, thereby improving and increasing the efficiency of back office operations related to consumption taxes.

Updating registration information

Corporate Numbers, which are assigned when a company is first established and registered, do not change even if the company name (legal name) or location of a company changes.

To change the corporate name or location of an established and registered company, it is necessary to complete the process of registering a change of registered office with the Legal Affairs Bureau responsible for the location of the company’s registered office prior to any move. When this change is made, the updated information is automatically sent by the Ministry of Justice to the National Tax Agency, so there is no need to perform any special procedure related to Corporate Numbers at a tax office when changing a company’s corporate name or location.

However, note that you must submit a notification of relocation to the tax office with jurisdiction over the company’s location before moving.

Benefits of Corporate Numbers

Corporate Numbers have several benefits—here are just a few of them:

Efficient internal information management

Depending on the company, there are many cases where different, independent customer codes are set up in each department to manage internal data. However, these cases present difficulties when data needs to be compared between departments because the customer codes do not match.

By using Corporate Numbers as a common internal reference number, the data collected and managed by each department can be compatible, and data can be easily and accurately shared and compared between departments.

Information about new clients can be easily accessed

Because Corporate Numbers can confirm basic information about a company, Corporate Numbers can be used to efficiently search for companies when developing new corporate customers.

For example, on the Corporate Number Publication Site, it is possible to filter Corporate Numbers by their date of assignment, allowing the user to narrow their search to newly established and registered corporations. Another feature of the website that goes beyond simple searches by Corporate Number is the ability to narrow the search to a specific region—allowing the user to examine trends in a particular geographic area.

Lists of business partners and their latest information can be easily created

If you have the Corporate Number for each business partner, you can search for all of them at the same time on the Corporate Number Publication Site. This eliminates the difficulty of searching and collecting data from each partner’s website when creating lists of partner information. If a business partner’s name or location changes, the latest information can be easily obtained from the website—reducing the risk of using incorrect information.

Efficient administrative procedures

By using Corporate Numbers, data about businesses can be collected and shared across government agencies. Because of this, Corporate Numbers can create greater efficiency in government processes and procedures for both users and administrators.

How do I search for a Corporate Number?

While you can confirm your own company’s Corporate Number using the previously mentioned notification of Corporate Number designation, this may be difficult if you have lost it or forgotten where you stored it. Therefore, an easier and more accurate way to look up not just your company’s Corporate Number, but also those of your clients, is to use the National Tax Agency’s Corporate Number Publication Site. In addition to searching by company name or location, it is also possible to filter by company type and other characteristics.

However, information on companies that have only been incorporated and registered for less than a week might not be found on the website yet, so it might not always be possible to find the Corporate Number. Additionally, when searching by location, results will not be found and displayed if the block number and address are not entered using Arabic numerals, so be sure to confirm that you have the correct name and address before starting the search.

Do all companies and organizations have a Corporate Number?

As previously mentioned, Corporate Numbers are assigned to corporations that are incorporated and registered with the Legal Affairs Bureau having jurisdiction over the location of their headquarters. However, some corporations may not have a Corporate Number. These corporations include those that have not been incorporated and registered—as well as “nonlegal associations” and others—and are entities that do not file returns or reports with their local tax office.

Organizations not assigned a Corporate Number include the following:

• Nonestablished and registered corporations, noncorporate entities, and similar
  
• Branches and offices of a corporation
  
• Sole proprietors
  
• Associations and organizations that are classified as voluntary under the Civil Code
  
• Limited liability partnerships (Reference: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)
  

Noncorporate entities are organizations without corporate status that engage in activities similar to corporations—such as councils, clubs, school PTAs, charitable organizations, and condominium associations. As long as these organizations do not engage in activities that generate a profit, they aren’t required to pay corporate income tax.