What the TIN is
The TIN is the number Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) assigns to a taxpayer in Eswatini. 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 Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) by this number.
Who needs one
Every person who earns income in Eswatini needs a TIN: companies, sole traders, partnerships, trusts, and company directors. The Income Tax Order 1975 (s.33quat) gives you 60 days from becoming liable to tax to apply. An employee with a single employer whose pay is taxed under the Final Deduction System does not need to register. A TIN is not a VAT registration — VAT is a separate tax type you add to the same TIN, compulsory once taxable turnover passes E900,000. Companies must also appoint a resident Public Officer for income tax and a resident Nominated Officer for VAT.
How to register, step by step
- Download form RG 01(b), "Registration for Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)" — there is an Individuals version and a Companies version — from the Income Tax Forms page on ers.org.sz.
- In the tax types section, tick every tax you need: Income Tax, PAYE, and VAT. For VAT give the commencement date of your taxable activity and your estimated taxable supplies; for PAYE give your employee count.
- Companies: name a resident director as Public Officer (s.51(3), Income Tax Order 1975) and a person resident in Eswatini as Nominated Officer for VAT (s.77, VAT Act 2011) in the appointment section of the same form.
- Attach a three-month bank statement or original bank letter, proof of physical location (lease or current utility bill), national ID for local directors, the Public Officer and every portal user, trading licence, certificate of incorporation and Form J.
- List your portal users in the last part of the form — it takes four, and more needs the separate application form — then email the whole pack to info@ers.org.sz or hand it in at any ERS Service Centre. ERS quotes four working days to issue a TIN; it may take up to 30 days to decide a VAT registration, sometimes with an inspection.
How to find or check a TIN
ERS publishes a VAT Registration Check at ers.org.sz/VAT/Verification: enter a TIN and it tells you whether that taxpayer is registered for VAT. Check your suppliers with it — ERS warns it will disallow input tax you paid to a supplier who was never VAT-registered. There is no lookup that finds a TIN from a name, and no online way to recover a forgotten TIN; for that, contact the ERS Contact Centre on (+268) 2406 4050 or visit a Service Centre. Update your own details with the Taxpayer Profile Maintenance Form.