A non-resident must have an Estonian registry code to declare income in Estonia, which means:
- an Estonian personal identification code or
- a 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 Estonian 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 foreign 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.
Through the inquiry it is also possible to check whether the Estonian 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 Estonian Tax and Customs Board.
The application can be submitted:
- in the e-services environment e-MTA: Registers and inquiries – Registration – Registration of a non-resident
- by filling in the R3 form which must be signed digitally and sent to emta@emta.ee
The Estonian 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 TM 3 or a certificate from a foreign tax authority containing the same data.
Last updated: 14.03.2022