New business identification number from now on!
What companies need to know, who gets the new number and how it works
Since November 2024 – Introduction, structure and significance for your tax affairs
The introduction of the business identification number (W-IdNr) on November 1, 2024 marks the beginning of a new era of company identification. The W-IdNr is intended to uniquely identify economic operators and will be gradually issued to all natural persons, partnerships and corporations with economic activities by 2026.
The most important facts at a glance:
- W-IdNr structure: “DE” + nine digits, supplemented by a distinguishing feature (e.g.
-00001for the first activity). - Who receives the W-IdNr? All economic operators, regardless of legal form or sector.
- No changes to VAT ID and tax number: Existing numbers remain valid and must continue to be used.
Recommendations for companies and the self-employed:
- No need for action: the allocation is made automatically by the tax authorities.
- The following currently applies: You can continue to use your tax number for all tax documents and communication with the tax office.
For this reason, we will continue to use the tax number in PepperPapers legal documents until the new W-IdNr is in force nationwide.
You can find even more information about the new business identification number here in the video!
