Business ID of an association

What is a Business ID?

A Business Identity Code (Business ID) is given to associations or other organisations when they are entered in the Business Information System, jointly maintained by the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland (NBPR) and the Finnish Tax Administration. The Business ID consists of seven digits, a dash and a control mark, for example 1234567-8.

The Business ID does not show whether an association is registered. That has to be checked separately in our AssociationNet information service. The Business ID does not replace the registration number and does not make the association an association with legal capacity.

As soon as an association is entered in the Register of Associations it will receive a six-digit registration number.

When does an association need a Business ID?

An association needs a Business ID when it engages in activities which it has to report to the registers kept by the Tax Administration.

Those activities are, for example

• employer activities (notifications to the Employer Register or Prepayment Register maintained by the Tax Administration), or
• activities liable to value-added tax (notifications to the VAT Register maintained by the Tax Administration).

An association does not need a Business ID to open a bank account.

How to apply for a Busines ID

• You apply for a Business ID by using notification form Y1.
• On the form, you choose the registers which the association wishes to be entered in.
• The notification is free of charge.
• The application should be enclosed with the copies of the charter of foundation and the rules.

The Business ID is available at www.ytj.fi in about two working days from the filing of the notification.

An association can file a notification to receive a Business ID before the association is entered in the Register of Associations.

The Register of Associations is not a part of the Business Information System and changes made in the Register of Associations are not updated in the Business Information System. Therefore associations have to separately report, for instance, changes of their address or name to the Business Information System (notification form Y4).

Further details and notification forms are available at www.prh.fi , www.ytj.fi and www.vero.fi .

Basic notification to Trade Register

An association is given a Business ID when it reports for registration in the Trade Register. It must file a basic notification if it

• has a permanent place of business for its operation
• employs at least one person.

The basic notification is liable to a charge. Read more on how to notify for registration in the Trade Register.