A non-resident must have an Estonian registry code to declare income in Estonia, which means:
- Estonian personal identification code or
- Code of the register of taxable persons (non-resident code) issued by the Estonian Tax and Customs Board.
One of the above codes is sufficient to declare income. If a person already has an Estonian personal identification (ID) code or a code of the register of taxable persons issued by the Tax and Customs Board, it is not necessary to apply for a new code to submit a new tax return.
Estonian personal ID code can be applied for at the Police and Border Guard Board, from a local government if the applicant is also registering his/her residence in Estonia, or from Estonian representations, in case registering a residence in Estonia is not intended.
Applying for a non-resident code
If a person does not have an Estonian personal ID code, it is possible to apply for the code of the register of taxable persons (non-resident code) from the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. Both a non-resident and a person who makes payments to non-residents, for example an employer, can apply for the code.
To avoid double-issuance of codes, we suggest checking beforehand if you already have a registry code issued by the Estonian Tax and Customs Board through the Inquiry of non-residency on our website.
Through the inquiry it is also possible to check whether the Tax and Customs Board's register includes a non-resident's certificate of residency issued by the tax authority of a foreign country.
In order to get a registry code, it is necessary to apply for the registration of a non-resident with the Tax and Customs Board.
The application can be submitted:
- in the online services environment e-MTA: „Registers and inquiries" > „Registration" > „Registration of a non-resident";
- digitally signed to the e-mail address emta@emta.ee.
The application must include the following information: the name and surname of the non-resident, date of birth, country, and if possible, also the registration code of the country of residence as well as the address of residence.
The Tax and Customs Board will issue the code of the register of taxable persons within 10 days.
The code of taxable persons (non-resident code) given to a non-resident does not change the person’s residence. A person cannot become a resident of Estonia with a non-resident code; neither does the code confirm tax residency of a foreign country. Non-residents must still declare their income on the non-resident's income tax return (Forms A1, E1 and V1). Persons who make payments to non-residents have to declare taxable payments on Annex 2 of Form TSD.
The non-resident code is not sufficient to apply preferential tax treaty rates. For this purpose, it is necessary to submit to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board also a certificate of residency approved by a foreign tax authority on Form TM3 or a certificate from a foreign tax authority containing the same data.
| Name | Upload date | |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of residency (Form TM3) | 561.98 KB | pdf | 19.02.2021 | Download |
Last updated: 14.04.2021