TRADE REGISTER

The Business Information System (BIS) was introduced on 1 April 2001

In the beginning of April 2001, the National Board of Taxes and the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland (NBPR) took into use a new joint notification procedure for business information. The aim is to offer a more flexible client service, good co-operation between authorities and a sophisticated information service. The reform allows a business to report all information pertaining to it in one single notice. In connection with this, a Business Identity Code was introduced as a common identification for businesses.

The Business Identity Code

Businesses are given a Business Identity Code (Business ID) immediately when they report for entry into the register at either of the authorities. The code identifies the business but it is not possible to conclude on the basis of it which register it has actually been entered into. This can be checked in the BIS Information Service (BIS Search) on the Internet at www.ytj.fi from 1 June 2001. The Business Identity Code consists of seven digits, a dash and a control mark. Each entity currently in the Trade Register or the Register of Foundations will be assigned a Business Identity Code automatically, after which the separate Trade Register number or the Foundations Register number is not used any more. The current codes of the clients of the tax administration will remain in force; only the name of the code will change to Business Identity Code.

According to the new law, a business entered into the Trade Register, VAT register, Withholding Tax Register, or Employer Register, must mention the Business ID in its business letters and forms. The previous code called Business Code is accepted as corresponding to the Business ID for a period of three years in letters and forms already existing. Businesses which are not obliged to use a corresponding code (i.e. the Trade Register number) have to add the Business ID to their letter and invoice forms within one year of the entry into force of the law.

Is the Business ID permanent?

The Business ID of a legal person, such as a company, remains the same as long as the legal person is operating. If the company form is changed in a way specified in the law, the Business ID remains the same, but if the activities of a general partnership are continued by a private trader, the Business ID will change. The Business IDs of individual persons are personal. Therefore, if business activities of a private trader are transferred from an entrepreneur to another, the Business ID will change. This is also the case when a company continues the business of a private trader.