Swiss UID
The Swiss business identification number issued by the Federal Statistical Office, used as the basis for the Swiss VAT registration number.
What it is
The Swiss UID (Unternehmens-Identifikationsnummer) is a nine-digit identifier issued by the Federal Statistical Office (BFS) to every Swiss legal entity. It is written as CHE-123.456.789 and, when the entity is VAT-registered, the VAT number is the same UID with a MWST (German), TVA (French) or IVA (Italian) suffix. The French and Italian names are IDE and IDI respectively; all three refer to the same number.
Where you meet it
You meet the Swiss UID in two registries. The BFS runs the UID Register at uid.admin.ch, which returns the entity's name, legal form, address, and VAT status via a public SOAP interface. The Federal Tax Administration's MWST register is queried separately to confirm active VAT registration. In vatverify, a CHE-prefixed number hits the BFS UID service, and the /v1/validate response includes vatRegistered alongside the registry status so you can see both facts in one payload.
Common confusions
- A valid UID does not imply VAT registration. Many small Swiss entities hold a UID without being above the CHF 100,000 turnover threshold that triggers mandatory VAT registration.
- The UID carries a MOD-11 check digit. Numbers where the computed check digit is 10 are not issued, so a typo in the last digit is caught before the registry call.