Administrations use UID and BER to better identify SMEs. Discover how companies are also using these identifiers.
Under the direction of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), the Business and Enterprise Register (BER) covers all enterprises and undertakings governed by public and private law having their head office in Switzerland. The aim of the Unique Enterprise Identification Number (UID) is to identify companies uniquely in order to simplify and increase the security of information exchanges during administrative processes and statistical tasks.
Unique Enterprise Identification Number (UID)
Since January 2011, each company active in Switzerland has been allocated an enterprise identification number. The UID allows companies to identify themselves whenever they contact the authorities using a single unique number. The aim is to reduce the large number of different identifiers used by the administration and replace them with a unique identifier. The exchange of information between administrations, between companies and administrations and between companies themselves will therefore be easier. In addition, as data is now updated in a single reference register, the administrative burden of updating data is reduced considerably.
On January 1, 2014, the UID became the enterprise identification number used by the Trade Register and for Value-Added Tax (VAT). Managing a single number is a real benefit for the administration of the more than 280,000 companies listed in both registers.
To consult the UID, the FSO makes available to the public a central register of enterprises called the “UID Register”. The general public can access this register on the internet, in compliance with the data protection provisions.
Who receives a UID and how?
Enterprises or institutions receive a UID when they are announced to an authority that is connected to the UID register.
