Introduced in 2009, The UEN is a unique 9 or 10-digit identification number that Singapore's government assigns to all businesses that operate within the country.
Are you eligible for a UEN?
If you have one of the below businesses registered in Singapore you are required to have a UEN:
- Companies
- Local businesses
- Limited liability partnerships (LLPs)
- Societies
- Representative offices
- Healthcare institutions
- Trade unions
It's important to know the UEN you are provided with is permanent, and will remain the same even if you change your business name.
Who is not required to have a UEN?
If you fall within the below, you are exempt from getting a UEN:
- Individuals (should have their own identification number)
- International-based companies with no exposure to Singaporean government agencies
- Branches who are Sub-entities of a Singapore company
Do take note that some government agencies may choose to add sub-entity codes to UEN in their system if they need to identify and communicate with the branches.
How can you access your UEN?
You can claim your UEN number upon registering your business in Singapore, and can be checked by visiting your business profile. For ACRA Registered companies, their ACRA number will be their UEN.
The Three UEN Types are outlined below:
A - ACRA Registered Businesses: nnnnnnnnX (9 digits)
B - ACRA Registered Local companies: yyyynnnnnX (10 digits)
C - New EUN entitled Companies - TyyPQnnnnX (10 digits)
Key Terminology
‘n’ = a number
‘P’= a alphabetical letter
‘Q’ = an alpha-numeric digit
‘PQ’ = Entity-type 2
‘Tyy’ / ‘Syy’ / ‘yyyy’= year of issuance 3
‘X’ = a check alphabet
Case Scenarios
For a limited liability partnership (LLP) formed on 1 January 2009, the UEN could look like this - ‘T09LL0001B’. For International companies registered with ACRA, your UEN will look like this - TyyUFnnnnX.
There are many UEN insurance agencies, apart from ACRA who assign UEN numbers to the eligible companies, listed below:
- The Ministry of Law
- The International Enterprise Singapore
- The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore
- The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth
- The Ministry of Defense
- The Ministry of Education
- The Ministry of Finance
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- The Ministry of Health
- The Ministry of Communications and Information;
- The Ministry of Manpower
- The Ministry of National Development
- The Monetary Authority
- The People’s Association
- The Registry of Societies
- The Singapore Land Authority
Searching for another company's UEN
To find a UEN of an ACRA registered company you can use the directory search. From using this search function, you will retrieve the UEN number and status, business name, agency who issued the UEN, company structure and business address. You also use the directory search for details on Non ACRA registered businesses (above).
Convenience of having a UEN
For government requirements in terms of filing your corporate tax returns or applying for import/export permits, you'll only need your UEN number rather than multiple numbers.
Next Steps
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