Unique Entity Number (UEN)
Unique Entity Number (UEN) is a unique identifier issued to a Singapore entity upon incorporation or registration and is also used as a standard identification number for Singapore entities to interact with government agencies. It was earlier known as ACRA Registration Number. To minimize adoption costs and disruptions, the ACRA Registration Number is retained as the UEN mainly for businesses and companies as they comprise more than 85% of all entities registered in Singapore.
With the UEN the companies can file their corporate tax returns or apply for import and export permits. They won’t need to use different numbers to interact with different government agencies.
ACRA is the UEN System Administrator. Its role is to:
- oversee the operation of the UEN System
- administer the issuance of UEN
- assist agencies in handling queries on UEN
Who is issued a UEN?
UEN is issued to all business entities like local companies, LLPs, societies, and representative offices that:
- have multiple interactions with government agencies
- are recognized by a UEN Issuance Agency (e.g. ACRA, ROS)
And, the following are not issued a UEN:
- Individuals: As they interact with government agencies using their NRIC or FIN numbers
- Entities that have no or only one-off interactions with just one government agency: E.g. overseas company that sells products to government agencies on a one-off basis
- Sub-entities such as branches and divisions of an entity. But some government agencies may choose to add sub-entity codes to UEN in their systems if they need to identify and interact with branches and divisions.
There are different UEN Issuance Agencies that issue UENs to entities based on their type. For example, ACRA issues to all Limited Partnerships, LLPs, Foreign companies, and public accounting firms and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) to all representative offices of Foreign Companies, Foreign Government Agencies, and Foreign Trade Associations/Chambers/Non-Profit Organisations. For the full list visit their website.
