What the TIN is
The TIN is the number Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL) assigns to a taxpayer in Lesotho. It follows you across every tax you deal with: VAT, income tax and withholding. Businesses that pay you will ask for it before they release payment, because they report their suppliers to Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL) by this number.
Who needs one
Everyone who earns income or runs a business in Lesotho must register with Revenue Services Lesotho and is issued a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). That covers employees, sole traders, company directors, partners in a partnership and executive committee members of an NGO, as well as trustees, companies and other organisations. Each partner in a partnership registers separately, on their own share of the profits. A company carrying on business or keeping an office in Lesotho must also appoint a Public Officer resident in Lesotho to deal with RSL. One TIN serves income tax, VAT and customs and excise together. A VAT number is separate and is issued only when you register for VAT; a TIN on its own does not entitle you to charge VAT. Using a false TIN is a criminal offence.
How to register, step by step
- Open eTax at efiling.rsl.org.ls, choose Sign Up and click the Obtain TIN button. If RSL already holds your email address against a TIN, it links the account instead of starting a new registration.
- On the eRegistration Forms page at eservices.rsl.org.ls/ereg/public pick your form: Individual Taxpayer Registration Form for employees, company directors and partners, or Business Taxpayer Registration Form for entities and sole traders, filed by the owner or the nominated officer. Paper copies are available at any RSL Digital Service Centre.
- Tick New as the application type and leave the TIN boxes empty. Tick Amendment and enter your TIN only if you are changing details on an existing registration; the form validates the TIN before it lets you continue.
- Attach the supporting documents: a certified copy of your national ID or passport and your trader's licence; for a company, the certificate of incorporation, the business extract and IDs of the directors; for a partnership, the partnership deed; for a non-profit, its constitution; for a non-resident, a certified copy of a valid work permit. Add a schedule of employees, salaries and any fringe benefits.
- Sign the declaration and submit online, or hand the completed form in at an RSL Digital Service Centre. RSL issues the TIN once every registration requirement is met, and you must quote it on every form and every letter to RSL.
How to find or check a TIN
RSL publishes no TIN directory and no way to look up someone else's number. If you have lost your TIN, or eTax tells you your email address is not linked to a TIN, call RSL on +266 22 313796 or the toll-free line 8002 2009, email info@rsl.org.ls, or go to an RSL Digital Service Centre; the eTax sign-up page itself points you to that number to have your email linked to your TIN. A TIN you already hold can be checked by entering it on the Amendment path of the eRegistration form, which rejects an invalid one. Tax clearance certificates, VAT 11 certificates and withholding tax certificates can be verified by anyone at the e-Clearance Certificates service, eservices.rsl.org.ls/etcc/public.