When a foreign corporation establishes a branch office in Japan and notifies the tax office of the establishment of the Japanese branch, a “Corporate Identification Number” is required.

If you have established a joint stock company or a limited liability company in Japan, a notice of your corporate number will be sent to your company.

However, when a foreign corporation registers a branch office in Japan, the corporation number is not sent to the corporation through registration alone.

A separate procedure to obtain a corporate number is required.

Notifications required to obtain a corporate number

A foreign corporation will be assigned a corporate number in any of the following cases.

１．If you have submitted any of the following notifications to the tax office

Notification of the establishment of an office for the payment of wages, etc.

Notification of the establishment of a domestic corporation, etc.

Notification of the establishment of a domestic corporation, etc. – Notification of becoming a foreign corporation

Notification of commencement of profit-making business

Notification of commencement of profit-making business

2. In cases other than 1 above where certain requirements are met and a notification is submitted to the Commissioner of the National Tax Agency

In the case of 1, there is a space for a “corporate number” on the notification form, but in the case of 2, there is no problem if you leave it blank.

In case of 2, you can leave it blank.

Once the above procedures are completed, a notice of the designation of your corporate number will be sent to your principal office in Japan.

Necessary procedures for the publication of the corporate number

When a corporation number is assigned to a Japanese joint stock company or limited liability company, it will be published on the National Tax Agency’s website.

For foreign corporations, even if you receive a notification of your corporate number, it will not be published on the website immediately.

Even if a foreign corporation has received a notification of its corporate number, it will not be published on the website immediately, but will only be published after submitting a response form to the “Question Concerning the Designation of a Corporate Number” enclosed with the notification of the designation of the corporate number to the Corporate Number Management Office of the National Tax Agency and receiving confirmation of the answer.

The above is an explanation of obtaining a corporation number for a foreign corporation.

The corporate identification number for Japanese corporations and limited liability companies is a 12-digit number preceded by a one-digit number.

The corporate identification number of a foreign corporation is not the 12-digit corporate identification number preceded by a one-digit number when the branch office is registered.

A foreign corporation’s corporate identification number is not the same as the 12-digit corporate identification number used when registering a branch office, but is a basic 12-digit number that does not overlap with the corporate identification number set by the Commissioner of the National Tax Agency, and is preceded by a one-digit number for inspection.