Swiss UID Number: How to Look Up and Check a Company's UID
Every Swiss company has a UID, the Unternehmens-Identifikationsnummer (business identification number). It appears on invoices, in the commercial register and inside the VAT number, and it stays the same when the company changes its name or moves its seat. You can look it up in the UID register, check it for typos yourself, and read it alongside the VAT number and the old commercial register number.
Looking up a UID in the UID register
The UID register of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) is public and free, at uid.admin.ch.
- Type the company name or the UID into the search field.
- Open the result and compare the name and address with what the company gave you.
- Read the status: is the unit active, entered in the commercial register, and registered for VAT?
For each unit the register shows the UID, name, address, status in the UID register, commercial register status, and VAT status with the start and end dates of registration. A deleted company stays visible, marked as deleted, for up to ten years. Supplementary data such as the NOGA industry code is visible to government offices only.
If you look up UIDs often, the federal UID web service is open without registration and allows 20 requests a minute. For a number you spot on a web page, our free UID lookup extension for Chrome shows the company's status, legal form and registered office when you hover over it.
Companies House, SIREN, EU VAT: the Swiss equivalents
| Foreign identifier | In Switzerland |
|---|---|
| Companies House number (UK) | the UID |
| EU VAT number | the UID followed by MWST, TVA or IVA |
| SIREN (France) | the UID |
| SIRET (France) | no public equivalent: the FSO numbers each establishment in its business register (BUR), but only the company itself can see that number |
| Kbis extract (France), certificate of incorporation | a certified extract from the cantonal commercial register |
| Handelsregisternummer, HRB (Germany) | the UID |
| EORI number | the UID, in Swiss customs declarations |
A Swiss VAT number is not an EU VAT number, and the EU's VIES service does not know it. Check a Swiss VAT number on uid.admin.ch instead. Switzerland does not issue EORI numbers either: Swiss customs declarations use the UID, and a Swiss company that files customs declarations in the EU applies for an EORI in an EU member state.
When a bank, a lawyer or a foreign authority asks for proof that a Swiss company exists, what they need is a certified extract. Order it from the commercial register office of the canton where the company has its seat. It costs CHF 50 in Zurich and in Vaud. The extract you can view free on Zefix or the cantonal website has no legal effect. Use it for your own check; banks and authorities ask for the certified one.
How a UID is built, and the check digit
A UID is the letters CHE followed by nine digits. It is usually written in groups of three, CHE-105.909.036, and sometimes without punctuation, CHE105909036. The first eight digits are assigned at random and say nothing about the company. The ninth is a check digit.
The check digit catches most typos before you even open the register. Using the UID of Nestlé S.A., CHE-105.909.036:
- Multiply the first eight digits, in order, by 5, 4, 3, 2, 7, 6, 5 and 4: 1×5 + 0×4 + 5×3 + 9×2 + 0×7 + 9×6 + 0×5 + 3×4 = 104.
- Divide the sum by 11 and keep the remainder: 104 = 9×11 + 5, so the remainder is 5.
- Subtract the remainder from 11: 11 − 5 = 6, which is the last digit of the UID. A remainder of 0 gives a check digit of 0.
If the calculation gives 10, the FSO never assigns that number. A UID whose check digit does not match contains an error. A matching check digit only proves the number is well formed: whether it belongs to the company named is something only the register can confirm.
UID, VAT number and commercial register number
Since 1 January 2014 the UID has been both the commercial register number and the basis of the VAT number. It replaced the old federal register number and the six-digit VAT number. The number itself stays the same, with a suffix added:
- VAT number: the UID followed by MWST, TVA or IVA, for example CHE-105.909.036 MWST. There is no official English suffix: "CHE-105.909.036 VAT" is not a valid form.
- Commercial register: the UID, with the optional suffix HR (RC in French and Italian). When a form asks for a Swiss "company registration number", the UID is the answer.
Two more numbers still turn up in older documents and register exports. For the Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund:
| Number | Example | What it identifies |
|---|---|---|
| UID | CHE-105.829.940 | the company, across Switzerland and permanently |
| CH-ID (old federal number) | CH-020.5.901.008-3 | the former commercial register number, no longer used in public |
| EHRA-ID | 119283 | the internal number of the entry in the commercial register |
UID and EHRA-ID usually match one to one. The exception is a company registered at two seats: Nestlé S.A. is entered in Cham and in Vevey, so it has one UID and two EHRA-IDs. The Zefix REST API guide covers how to use the EHRA-ID in queries.
Who has a UID
Every unit registered with a federal, cantonal or communal authority gets a UID, including:
- every entry in the commercial register, associations, foundations and branch offices included
- self-employed people and sole proprietorships registered with an AHV compensation fund, the cantonal tax register or the VAT register, even without a commercial register entry
- farms and administrative units of the Confederation, the cantons and the communes
- foreign companies with an establishment in Switzerland
You cannot apply to the FSO for a UID. The number is created when a business registers with the commercial register, the AHV or the VAT authority. A branch office has its own UID, and the head office's entry refers to it.
When a UID changes
The UID survives a change of name, a move to another canton, and a conversion under the Mergers Act, such as a GmbH becoming an AG. In a merger by absorption, the absorbing company keeps its UID.
A new UID is assigned when:
- A sole proprietor moves the business into a new GmbH or AG. The Mergers Act has no conversion for sole proprietorships, so the company is a new unit.
- A sole proprietorship passes to a new owner.
- Two companies combine into a new one, or a demerger creates a new company.
A UID is never reassigned to a different company. If a UID you know reappears under a new name, it is the same company.
Beyond the number
The UID tells you which company you are dealing with. Who can sign for it, what it has published in the SHAB, and how to order a debt enforcement extract are covered in How to Check Out a Swiss Company.
To keep an eye on a company over time, enter its UID below. Prospex tells you, free, whenever something new is published about it.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a Swiss UID number?
- The UID (Unternehmens-Identifikationsnummer) is the identifier every Swiss business unit receives from the Federal Statistical Office: CHE followed by nine digits, for example CHE-105.909.036. It stays the same when the company changes its name, seat or legal form.
- Is the Swiss VAT number the same as the UID?
- Yes. Since 2014 the Swiss VAT number is the UID followed by MWST, TVA or IVA, for example CHE-105.909.036 MWST. It is not an EU VAT number and cannot be checked in VIES; check it on uid.admin.ch.
- What is the Swiss equivalent of a Companies House number?
- The UID. Every company in a Swiss commercial register has one, and you can look it up free of charge on uid.admin.ch or zefix.admin.ch.