Brazil's Receita Federal will begin issuing alphanumeric corporate tax identification numbers for new business registrations on July 31 [1].
This shift is necessary to expand the capacity of the national registration system. By integrating letters with numbers, the government avoids the exhaustion of available numeric combinations as the number of registered companies grows [2].
The Cadastro Nacional da Pessoa Jurídica, known as the CNPJ, has historically relied on a purely numeric format. The new system allows for a combination of letters and numbers for all new entries starting this Friday [1], [3].
Receita Federal said the change is designed to increase the total volume of possible registrations in the country [3]. This ensures that the federal government can continue to register new legal entities without facing a shortage of unique identification codes [2].
Existing businesses will not be required to change their identification. A spokesperson for Receita Federal said the change will not affect existing registrations, and only new registrations will receive the alphanumeric format [4].
Companies already operating under the old numeric system can keep their current IDs without modification. The transition focuses exclusively on the future growth of the corporate landscape [4].
Receita Federal said the agency will start emitting the new alphanumeric CNPJ starting July 31 [1].
“The change will not affect existing registrations; only new registrations will receive the alphanumeric format.”
The transition to an alphanumeric CNPJ represents a critical infrastructure update for Brazil's tax administration. By moving beyond a ten-digit numeric system, the government is future-proofing its corporate registry against the limitations of a finite number set, ensuring that the administrative process for starting a business remains scalable as the economy expands.
