# BRD-032 — Submit the identifier in the form the issuing country requires

> For a country on TCR's VAT-optimised list, submit only the numeric portion of the VAT ID; elsewhere submit the corporation registration number or national tax ID.

- **Rule ID:** BRD-032
- **Layer:** Brand (`BRAND`)
- **Checks:** `brand.ein`
- **Severity:** BLOCKING — Breaking this rule gets the submission rejected outright.
- **When it bites:** Gates approval — get this wrong and registration is refused
- **How it is detected:** Deterministic (settled in code from the submitted values)
- **Fix type:** Fix the field — a better value in the form clears it
- **Required by:** TCR, Telnyx, AWS
- **Applies:** Applies to every 10DLC registration.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/brand/brd-032/

## Why this rule exists

A European VAT number is normally written with its country prefix — GB123456789 — and that prefix is exactly what TCR's lookup does not want. The number is right, the format is wrong, and the rejection says the business could not be verified, which sends people to check their company name. For countries off the optimised list the whole identifier is different: the VAT number will not verify at all and the corporation registration number is what is wanted.

## How to fix it

Strip the two-letter country prefix from a VAT number and submit the digits only. If your country is not on TCR's VAT-optimised list, submit the corporation registration number from your national companies register instead of the VAT number. Done when the identifier is the bare number the register itself would search on.

## Example of a compliant value

```text
ein: 123456789 for a GB VAT registration written GB123456789 — the digits only
```

## Common mistakes

- Which countries are on the optimised list changes, and TCR publishes it rather than deriving it. Check the current list before assuming your country qualifies.

## Notes

Merges the two branches of one decision (the catalog's BRD-032 and BRD-033): the numeric VAT portion on the optimised list, the corporation registration number off it. Only the first branch is mechanical — the check reports an identifier still carrying its country prefix. Choosing between VAT and corporation number needs the current TCR country list, which we do not hold, so the user has to confirm their country against it themselves before deciding which number to send.