Submit the identifier in the form the issuing country requires

The requirementstatement

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.

Severityseverity: BlockingBLOCKINGBreaking this rule gets the submission rejected. There is no partial credit.
When it bitesphase: Gates approvalapprovalGet this wrong and the brand or campaign is refused at registration.
What is checkedobject: brand.ein
Where it liveslayer: BrandBRAND
How Ekas settles itdetectability: DeterministicDETERMINISTIC; Settled in code from the values you submitted. No model involved, no judgement call, same answer every time.
What the fix involvesfailureClass: Fix the fieldRETRY_FIELD; A better value in the form fixes it. Ekas can rewrite it and re-check.
Who requires itauthorities: TCRTelnyxAWS
When it appliesapplicabilityText: Applies to every 10DLC registration.

Why this rule existsrationale

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 itremediation

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.

A compliant exampleexample

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

Common mistakespitfalls

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.

Notesnotes

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.

Rules you will hit next

6 other rules read brand.ein. Fixing one field to satisfy a single rule is how a resubmission trades one rejection for another, so read these before you change anything.

BRD-017A tax ID is required for every entity but a sole proprietorBlockingBLOCKING BRD-019EIN must be nine digitsBlockingBLOCKING BRD-020Submit the US EIN hyphenatedBlockingBLOCKING BRD-021An SSN is not a business registration numberBlockingBLOCKING BRD-022A DUNS number is not a US business registration numberBlockingBLOCKING BRD-065Sole proprietor must have no EINBlockingBLOCKING

All brand rules

BRD-032 is one of 196 brand rules in the 915-rule 10DLC registry. Free to cite under CC BY 4.0.