A national identification registry
CNPJ stands for Cadastro Nacional da Pessoa Jurídica, Brazil’s National Register of Legal Entities. It identifies legal entities and certain arrangements without legal personality, including condominiums, public agencies, and funds, before the Federal Revenue Service. Although it is often described as a company identification number, its scope is broader than companies. The registry brings together information relevant to tax administrations at the federal, state, Federal District, and municipal levels.
In practice, the CNPJ serves as a registry identity for an organization. Created on July 1, 1998, it developed from the former General Register of Taxpayers (CGC) and is administered by the Federal Revenue Service. The number has 14 digits. Each establishment receives the basic number associated with its head office, supplemented by an identifier specific to that establishment.
Information in the registry
The registry includes information such as the entity’s opening date and name, as well as its trade name, if it has one. It also records the primary economic activity and any secondary activities, using codes and descriptions from Brazil’s National Classification of Economic Activities (CNAE), along with the entity’s legal nature, address, and registration status. The CNPJ therefore identifies an entity while organizing information about its registered details and activities.
The opening date shown in the registry does not always match the date on which a business actually began to exist. This can be the case, in particular, for businesses that existed before implementation of the CGC began in 1966. The date should therefore be read as a registry entry, not necessarily as an exact record of when operations started.
Checking CNPJ information
Anyone can use the official CNPJ lookup service to check an organization’s registration details. The information available includes registration status and, among other details, the organization’s partners and administrators. Users can also obtain a certificate of registration and registration status, and check whether a company has opted into the Simples Nacional tax regime.
The service is free and available online through the lookup channel listed on the gov.br portal. It lets users check information recorded by the Federal Revenue Service; a lookup does not itself change an entity’s registration status or replace other steps that may be needed for a business or administrative matter.