Corporate Number

What Is a 法人番号?

The 法人番号 (houjin bangou) is a unique 13-digit identifier assigned to every corporation and certain organizations in Japan. It was introduced in 2015 as part of Japan's Social Security and Tax Number System (マイナンバー制度, "My Number" system) and is administered by the National Tax Agency (国税庁, Kokuzeicho).

Unlike the individual My Number (個人番号), which is private and strictly protected, the corporate number is public information. Anyone can look up any company's corporate number, and conversely, anyone can search for a company using its number. This transparency was a deliberate design choice to facilitate business transactions, government administration, and public accountability.

Who Receives One?

A corporate number is automatically assigned to:

• All registered corporations — every 株式会社 (KK), 合同会社 (GK), and other corporate entities registered with the Legal Affairs Bureau
• National government agencies
• Local government bodies
• Other organizations — including certain associations, foundations, and entities that file tax returns

The number is assigned automatically upon incorporation or registration. Companies do not need to apply for it separately.

Structure of the Number

The corporate number consists of 13 digits:

• First digit — a check digit calculated from the remaining 12 digits, used for error detection
• Remaining 12 digits — correspond to the company's registration number at the Legal Affairs Bureau (for corporations) or a number assigned by the National Tax Agency (for other entities)

For corporations registered with the Legal Affairs Bureau, the last 12 digits of the corporate number match the company's 会社法人等番号 (company registration number). This means if you have the corporate number, you can easily derive the registration number by removing the first check digit.

What Is It Used For?

• Tax filings — all corporate tax returns, consumption tax returns, and other tax-related filings must include the corporate number
• Qualified Invoice System (インボイス制度) — since October 2023, Japan's qualified invoice system requires that registered invoice issuers include their registration number (which is based on the corporate number with a "T" prefix) on invoices for consumption tax credit purposes
• Inter-company transactions — business-to-business transactions increasingly reference the corporate number for verification and record-keeping
• Government filings — applications to government agencies, regulatory filings, and public procurement documents require the corporate number
• Due diligence — the publicly searchable database makes it easy to verify a company's existence and basic information

The Invoice System Connection

Japan's Qualified Invoice Preservation System (適格請求書等保存方式, commonly called the インボイス制度) launched in October 2023. Under this system, businesses must issue "qualified invoices" (適格請求書) that include their registration number (登録番号) for the buyer to claim consumption tax input credits.

For corporations, the invoice registration number is simply "T" + the 13-digit corporate number. For example, if a company's corporate number is 1234567890123, its invoice registration number would be T1234567890123. This direct link between the corporate number and the invoice system has made the 法人番号 even more central to everyday business operations in Japan.

Common Misconception: 法人マイナンバー

The corporate number is sometimes incorrectly referred to as "法人マイナンバー" (corporate My Number). While the corporate number was introduced as part of the same My Number system, it is fundamentally different from the individual My Number in important ways:

• Privacy — the individual My Number is private and its use is strictly limited by law. The corporate number is fully public.
• Searchability — the corporate number and associated company information can be searched freely by anyone. Individual My Numbers cannot.
• Usage restrictions — there are no restrictions on using or sharing corporate numbers. Individual My Numbers can only be used for specific statutory purposes (tax, social security, disaster response).

How to Look Up a Corporate Number

The National Tax Agency operates a free public search portal at houjin-bangou.nta.go.jp. You can search by:

• Company name (Japanese)
• Corporate number
• Location (prefecture, city)

The search results show the company's corporate number, name, registered address, and the date the number was assigned. The database also provides downloadable bulk data files for researchers and systems that need to process large volumes of corporate data.