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New Zealand NZBN and GST Number Checker
New Zealand's GST is a flat 15%. A GST-registered business's GST number is its IRD number, eight or nine digits long. There is no public register of GST numbers, so a GST number can be checked for its format and check digit but not looked up.
Every New Zealand business can also hold a New Zealand Business Number (NZBN), a 13-digit identifier kept in the public NZBN register by MBIE. The register shows the legal name and whether the entity is still registered, and lists a GST number when the business has chosen to add it.
Format and check digit verified in your browser; no live registry lookup is available for New Zealand today. Not affiliated with the New Zealand tax authority.
New Zealand VAT number format
- Local name
- GST Number (Goods and Services Tax Registration Number)
- Structure
- NZBN: 13 digits starting 94; or GST (IRD) number: 8 or 9 digits
- Format example
- 9429000106078Illustrative: right shape and check digit, not a registered business.
- Standard rate
- 15%
An NZBN is 13 digits starting with 94, with a GS1 check digit verified here. A GST number is 8 or 9 digits (written like 49-091-850), with the Inland Revenue check digit verified here. Spaces, hyphens and an NZ prefix are removed.
How this New Zealand check works
- Format, in your browser. As you type, the number is compared with the New Zealand pattern and its check digit is recomputed. This costs nothing and sends nothing: a number in the wrong shape is rejected on the spot and never reaches the registry.
- Registration: not available yet. A live lookup against the New Zealand Business Number register (MBIE) is not available to us today, so a correct format is reported as exactly that — not as a registered business.
- More checks, or from your code. A free account gives you an API key with 100 validations a month, the same answer as this page as JSON.
What usually goes wrong
Confusing the NZBN with the GST number
The NZBN identifies the business; the GST number is the IRD number it files GST under. An invoice must show the GST number.
Reading a missing GST number as not registered
Adding a GST number to the NZBN record is voluntary. An NZBN without one says nothing about GST registration.
Leaving out a leading zero
Eight-digit IRD numbers are often written with a leading zero to make nine. Both forms are the same number.
Frequently asked questions
Can I look up a New Zealand GST number?
Not in a public register — Inland Revenue does not publish one. The format and check digit can be verified, and the NZBN register shows a GST number when the business has listed it.
What is an NZBN?
The New Zealand Business Number, a 13-digit global identifier (GS1 GLN) for every New Zealand company and many other businesses, kept by MBIE in the NZBN register.
Does this check the NZBN register?
Not yet. Today the check digit is verified. A lookup against the NZBN register is built and switches on once TaxID's NZBN API subscription is in place.
Validating New Zealand numbers from your own code instead of by hand? The New Zealand VAT validation API guide has the endpoint, the response shape and examples in four languages. To check a number from another country, go back to the VAT number checker.