Estonian Registry Code: 8 Digits, and What It Is Not

An Estonian company has a registry code, a VAT number, and possibly an EORI number.

Three identifiers, three issuers, three formats. Only one of them is the registrikood.

The short answer

What the code looks like

Eight digits, always, with no prefix and no padding convention to worry about.

The first digit generally signals the type of entity:

• Commercial undertakings, including the OÜ and the AS, generally begin with 1
• Non-profit associations and foundations generally begin with 8

This is a useful sanity check rather than a rule to rely on. If you have been given an eight-digit code beginning with 8 and you were expecting a trading company, it is worth looking at the register before signing anything.

The identifiers that are not your registry code

This is where most of the confusion sits, and it costs people real time on VAT filings and customs paperwork.

Three things to take from that table:

1. The VAT number is not the registry code with EE stuck on the front. It is a different number entirely, and a company only has one if it is VAT registered.
2. The isikukood is a personal identity code. Eleven digits, and it belongs to a human being. An e-resident has one. Their company does not.
3. The EORI number is derived from the registry code, which is why those two do look related.

If a form asks for your "Estonian company number", it wants the eight-digit registrikood. If it asks for a VAT number and you are not VAT registered, the honest answer is that you do not have one, not the registry code.

Registry code (registrikood)

123456788 digits, assigned by the Business Register at registration

Identity of the company. Always present, never changes.

VAT number (KMKR number)

EECountry prefix

1234567899 digits, issued by the Tax and Customs Board

Only exists once the company is VAT registered. A different number, from a different body.

If it starts with EE it is the VAT number. The registry code has no prefix at all.

Where to find it

In order of reliability:

1. The registry entry itself, in the e-Business Register
2. Any document issued at registration
3. Invoices and contracts, where Estonian practice puts it as standard
4. The annual report, which is public

Estonian business practice puts the registry code on nearly every commercial document, far more consistently than most countries. If you have any invoice from an Estonian company, the code is almost certainly on it.

How to verify one

The e-Business Register is public and free for basic data.

What you can confirm without paying:

• The registered name and legal form
• The registry code
• Status, including deleted or in liquidation
• The management board
• The registered address and contact person
• Whether annual reports have been filed

Three checks worth doing on a counterparty:

1. Is the latest annual report filed? Estonia deletes persistently non-filing companies, and the register shows the gap plainly
2. Is there a contact person? Its presence tells you the board is entirely non-resident
3. Does the legal form match what you were told? An OÜ is a private limited company. An MTÜ is a non-profit association and cannot distribute profit

What does not change the code

The registrikood is permanent through:

• A change of company name
• A change of the management board
• A change of registered address or contact person
• A change of shareholders
• VAT registration or deregistration

It ends when the company is deleted from the register. Codes are not reissued.

When the code does not resolve

Four causes:

1. You have the VAT number. Strip the EE and you still will not get the registry code, because they are different numbers
2. You have an isikukood. Eleven digits means a person, not a company
3. The company has been deleted. Estonia removes companies that fail to file, and the entry may not appear in a default search
4. A digit has been transposed. Eight digits with no check character makes this easy and silent

The third cause is more common in Estonia than elsewhere, because deletion for non-filing is actually enforced. A code that resolved last year may not resolve today, and that is information about the counterparty rather than an error on your side.

Keeping the annual report filed is what stops your own code from ending up in that state, which is one of a small number of obligations worth seeing laid out before you register.

The summary