Tax number

Steps

1. If you are settling: submit your residence declaration (elukohateade) in person to your municipality; the municipality creates your personal identification code at the same time (see sheet EE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001). Also fill in the supplementary page "for applying for a personal identification number" attached to the form.
2. If you work in Estonia without living there (for example while living in Latvia): submit a personal identification code application in person to the municipality of the nearest county centre (maakonnakeskus), or, if you cannot come to Estonia, to an Estonian embassy or consulate.
3. The code is allocated as soon as it is entered in the population register. You then find it on your Estonian identity card.
4. If you only need to declare Estonian income without residing in Estonia: request a non-resident code (registry code) from the EMTA, preferably via its online space e-MTA. An employer can also make the request for you.

Documents

• Identity document (national identity card or passport).
• Residence declaration and its supplementary page, or personal identification code application form (taotlus isikukoodi saamiseks), available as a version to fill in on a computer; even if filled in online, you must appear in person for the identity check.
• Any foreign documents (a child's birth certificate…): in Estonian, Russian or English, otherwise translated by a sworn translator, and legalised or apostilled unless a treaty provides otherwise.

Costs and timelines

• Cost: no fee is indicated by the official sources for the allocation of the code.
• Timeline: immediate when the residence is registered (the code exists as soon as it is entered in the register). For a stand-alone application, the timeline is not specified by the official pages consulted: the municipality tells you when you submit it.
• EMTA non-resident code: issued within 10 days.

Common pitfalls

• Believing that the code gives the right to live or work in Estonia. It does not: these rights come from another basis (EU citizen right of residence, residence permit).
• Confusing personal identification code and non-resident code. The EMTA non-resident code is only used to declare income; it does not make you an Estonian resident and is not enough to apply the reduced rates of a tax treaty (you also need a tax residence certificate from your country).
• Applying twice. If you already have an Estonian personal identification code, there is no need to ask for another, even for the tax authority.
• Forgetting to go in person. The first allocation requires an identity check in person.

What changes by country of origin

• EU and EEA citizens: code allocated by the municipality when registering residence.
• Swiss citizens: same procedure as EU citizens.
• British citizens: new arrivals receive their code as part of their residence permit; people who are not settling can request it like any foreigner (county centre municipality or embassy). To be confirmed with the PPA.
• All: a code can also be allocated to a foreigner who needs it to appear in a State database (tax authority, health insurance fund, social security fund) or on a civil status event registered in Estonia (marriage, birth).