Swiss UID (CHE) number and Swiss VAT number

The UID number: CHE and 9 digits

The UID identifies businesses established in Switzerland: companies, registered sole proprietorships, associations, public authorities and services. It is unique and does not change during the life of the business. Its official form is CHE-123.456.789: three letters, a hyphen, then three groups of three digits separated by dots. The dots and the hyphen are optional when typing; it is the 9 digits that count. The last digit is a check digit, which catches typing mistakes.

The UID alone is not a VAT number. It identifies the business, whether or not it is subject to VAT.

A single legal entity can have several entries in the cantonal records, for example a branch in another canton, while keeping a single UID. In a file, two rows with the same number may therefore designate the same company, not a duplicate to delete without thinking. The number is enough to recognise it, whatever the canton.

The VAT number: TVA, MWST or IVA

The Swiss VAT number is made of the UID followed by a mention: TVA in French, MWST in German (Mehrwertsteuer) or IVA in Italian. The three forms are equivalent: CHE-105.909.036 MWST and CHE-105.909.036 TVA designate the same number. The mention shows that the company is registered as liable for VAT.

As Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, this number is not an intra-community VAT number and is not checked like a European one. The VAT rules that apply to a sale to Switzerland, in particular export and import, are of a different nature: ask the competent authority or your adviser. The VAT number formats of several countries are compared in French VAT number: format and how to check it.

VAT groups: one number for several companies

In Switzerland, several related companies can be grouped into a VAT group, which is then the only taxable person. The group has its own VAT number, and the companies that belong to it invoice with this group number and not their own.

The consequence is concrete: the VAT number on the invoice of a Swiss subsidiary may not be its own. A check that naively compares the company's UID with the VAT number on its invoice will report a mismatch that is not one. The group number is also of the form CHE-… with the mention TVA, MWST or IVA.

In practice, when you receive an invoice from a Swiss company, keep two numbers: the company's UID, which identifies it, and the VAT number shown, which may be its own or its group's. Keep both in your supplier record to avoid manual matching on every invoice.

The most common mistakes

• taking the UID for a VAT number, when the mention TVA, MWST or IVA is missing;
• treating a Swiss number as an intra-community number, with a European country prefix;
• comparing the UID of a subsidiary with the VAT group number;
• losing the format: misplaced dots or hyphens, or missing digits;
• confusing companies with the same name or several entries of one entity in different cantons.

The format check is only a first step: the existence and status of the company are checked separately, as in Is this company real? Checks before signing.

With Companies: a Swiss company in one call

The global identifier of a Swiss company is CH- followed by the 9 digits of its UID, without the letters CHE: CH-101374515 for CHE-101.374.515. The search by number and GET /v2/companies/{id} also accept the usual form with dots. To check a Swiss VAT number, with or without dots and hyphens, GET /v2/validate is enough:

curl "https://companies.jsonpage.com/v2/validate?vat=CHE-105.909.036%20MWST" \
  -H "X-API-Key: $COMPANIES_API_KEY"

The response details the format, the existence of the company, its status and the registration of the number, then the basic record with its address. For a Swiss company that belongs to a VAT group, the group's number is returned in the vat block. The local block adds the fields specific to Switzerland: legal form, registered purpose, municipality and canton. For a closed entity, the status is filled in but not the closing date, and the record has no activity code.

Keep reading

• VATFrench VAT number: format and how to check itThe French, Belgian and Swiss formats, the mentions on the invoice and the check before invoicing.
• VERIFICATIONIs this company real? Checks before signingA six-point checklist: identifier, status, name and address, VAT, signals and sanctions lists.
• BELGIUMBelgian enterprise number: format and how to check it10 digits starting with 0 or 1, the link with Belgian VAT, establishment units and how to check it.