Enterprises and entrepreneurs in the course of daily activities use the OKPO code in contracts, documents, agreements. However, many do not even have an idea what it is and why, in fact, this code is needed. And, by the way, it makes it possible to control the activities of entrepreneurs and organizations.
What is OKPO?
It's time to discuss such an identifier as OKPO. When registering, organizations are assigned a lot of specific numbers and codes. And OKPO is just one of the most significant. It is on its basis that other encodings are assigned. Until the company has been assigned this, it cannot work. In fact, it is in an illegal situation.
Entrepreneurs are well aware that this code is required when filling out many important documents. However, for many people, the mechanism of generating OKPO code and decoding of this concept remain a secret behind seven locks. Although in fact there are no secrets in this matter. We will provide you with the maximum amount of information on this issue, you will easily navigate this issue.
How to decrypt abbreviation?
OKPO (decoding is quite simple) is an all-Russian classifier of enterprises and organizations. But what is the organization code itself? I must say that it is assigned once and does not change throughout the entire functioning of the organization. Even during the reorganization or the emergence of branches, this parameter remains unchanged. This, so to speak, is a constant value. Change is possible only if the scope of activity changes.
What is the difference in OKPO for individual entrepreneurs and legal entities?
The OKPO code is a number consisting of ten or eight digits. The first nine or seven digits correspond to the enterprise number (ordinal), the last number is always a benchmark.
For legal entities, OKPO by TIN is always an eight-digit number. It is assigned during the initial registration of the enterprise, depending on the chosen line of business. OKPO is immediately reflected in the primary extract of the USRLE or the USRIP, and then it is entered into the information base of the Federal State Statistics Service.
OKPO by TIN for individual entrepreneurs is a ten-digit number.
The unified register in Russia was created more than twenty years ago. It includes three groups of entities engaged in activities:
- Individual Entrepreneurs (IP).
- Legal entities.
- Enterprises and organizations that do not have legal entity status, but at the same time carry out business activities.
Why is it necessary to have an OKPO organization?
We have already found out what OKPO is. But what is it for? First of all, it is needed to indicate the industry in which the enterprise operates. In other words, this is the most important official classifier, which unites business entities according to their specialization.
The main purpose is to organize statistical data on enterprises and ensure the identification of absolutely all entrepreneurs and legal entities. But that’s not all, there are other goals:
- Combining state databases with other information resources that have information about enterprises.
- Simplified data exchange between different departments.
- To predict the social and economic development of the country, as well as the analysis of statistical information.
- Creation of a single information space of the Russian Federation.
- Implementation of automated data processing in departments.
In general terms, it can be said that OKPOs are used for statistical information exchange between various state structures. Since OKPO has no relation to the tax authorities, it therefore does not bear any data on the taxation of the enterprise. So what is OKPO? This is the most important of the statistical registration codes. An enterprise cannot work in any legal way until it has been assigned this code. Moreover, if it does not correspond with the scope of the company, then the inspecting structures may impose penalties.
OKPO: code decryption
The classifier is divided into two parts. The first is intended for legal entities, their representative offices, divisions and branches, as well as for those enterprises that do not have the corresponding legal status. And the second is intended for individual entrepreneurs.
Both parts have subsections that are devoted to:
- The name of the object.
- Individual features of the enterprise.
- Signs of classification.
Let's consider each section in more detail. The first indicates the name of the company. If the conversation is about an organization that does not have a legal status, then this block indicates not only the full, but also the abbreviated name in Russian. In the event that the organization also has an English name, then this data is already indicated in a special line for additional information.
When registering an individual entrepreneur, in the section “name” enter the last name, first name and patronymic of the entrepreneur (in the form of nominative case).
The second section contains the OKPO code itself. As we already said, for individual entrepreneurs it is ten digits, and for organizations - eight. So, the first two digits determine the scope of activity:
- Labor and natural resources.
- Goods created in the process of production and labor.
- National economy.
- Documents, management.
All other digits of the code are just the serial number given during registration. The most recent digit is the control. It is calculated by a special technique.
The third section contains code values of other classifiers:
- OKATO - classifies objects by territorial and administrative affiliation. With its help it is easy to determine the possible location of the organization.
- OKFS - information on the form of ownership of the organization or legal entity.
- OKVED - indicates the type of economic activity (what the company does).
- OKOGU - with its help you can find out to which department the enterprise belongs.
- OKTMO - provides information about the municipal territory in which the facility is located.
We want to note that there are no identical codes. Sometimes it happens that upon the liquidation of an enterprise after five years, its code may be assigned to another organization.
How to find out your OKPO?
How to learn OKPO? Such information is in the registration documents. If for some reason you can’t see them there, you can send a request to the Federal State Statistics Service to provide the necessary code. To find out OKPO, you will need a person’s passport, TIN, constituent documents of the enterprise. An answer will be issued in five days by mail or in hand.
But there is an easier way to find an OKPO company. You can use the Internet. With it, you can find several resources that advise on this issue. Among government sites - this is the resource of the Tax Service, where you can find OKPO by the details of the company.
And there is also a specialized OKPO portal that gives direct access to databases of individual entrepreneurs and legal entities.
We are looking for OKPO over the Internet
The tax service of Russia has developed a specialized online service for searching OKPO by TIN. It is located on their website.It provides an opportunity to find the location of the enterprise, but not the code itself. To find out the code itself, you need to contact the administration.
If you know OKPO, then get access to all statistics. This will help you draw conclusions about the reliability of the partner or counterparty.
The OKPO classifier allows the state to maintain a unified base of all business entities. Thanks to this, a single register of statistical data and a common information field have been created. The classifier is constantly changing. Publishing it is simply pointless. Firstly, it would be huge, and secondly, it would have to be reissued every week.
In general, speaking of what OKPO is, it should be noted that the code is important, first of all, for government bodies. According to it, they receive full information about the economic object. In addition, the code facilitates interdepartmental information exchange.
Is it possible to recognize OKPO by TIN?
To find OKPO by TIN, you can simply contact the Federal Tax Service or Rosstat. An extract is issued within five minutes from the USRIP information base for entrepreneurs and the USRLE for enterprises.
Also, the document can be obtained at the Federal Tax Service in your region. But in order to receive OKPO by TIN, you will have to fill out a specialized form.
Is OKPO necessary for individual entrepreneurs?
Practice shows that the majority of entrepreneurs have no idea about their OKPO, because when filling out any documents they are allowed to put a dash in this line. The code is not required when conducting business, not when submitting reports to the tax.
It should be noted that OKPO is more required in statistics and in tax structures. And for individual entrepreneurs, it can be useful only in rare cases.
For IP, this code began to be assigned only in 1999, so if you started your activity earlier, you may not know your number. Then you should request it from Rosstat.
Instead of an afterword
In our article, we talked about what OKPO is, its significance and where it can be found. We hope that our information was useful to beginning entrepreneurs. Since knowledge of the code makes it possible to collect some information about the counterparty or future partner, and this is important. After all, if you are aware, then - armed. And information is never superfluous. Good luck.
