# Merchant Verification by Tax Id
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/merchant-identifier/documentation/use-cases/merchant-verification-by-tax-id/index.md

## Merchant Verification by Tax Id {#merchant-verification-by-tax-id}

A government-issued tax identifier is the strongest available signal for confirming a legal business entity. Unlike a transaction descriptor or a merchant name, a tax id is issued by a national authority, is unique to a registered entity, and does not drift with branding, formatting, or acquirer conventions.

Where a tax id is available, it removes ambiguity from merchant verification entirely. Instead of scoring a probable match against noisy input, the lookup resolves directly to the registered entity behind the merchant --- making it the preferred pathway for onboarding, compliance, and any workflow that must produce an auditable record of exactly which legal entity was approved.

### Where it applies {#where-it-applies}

* **Financial Institutions \& Acquirers** confirm the registered legal entity behind a merchant before opening an acquiring relationship or extending commercial terms.
* **Compliance \& Onboarding Teams** evidence that a business is legitimately registered and correctly categorized, creating a defensible audit trail for how a relationship was assessed and approved.
* **Identity Verification Companies** anchor payment-derived merchant intelligence to an authoritative government identifier.
* **Embedded Finance \& BNPL Platforms** verify entity registration before activating credit products at a merchant.
* **Marketplaces \& Payment Facilitators** validate sub-merchant registration during seller onboarding.

Note: Tax Id lookup is currently available for merchants in Brazil only. To inquire about other geographies, please reach out to your Mastercard representative.

## How it works {#how-it-works}

Diagram midOverview

## Relevant Endpoints {#relevant-endpoints}

### Lookup - by Tax Id {#lookup---by-tax-id}

Both `tax_id` and `country_code` are required. This endpoint performs an exact match, so no confidence score is returned --- a result either resolves to a registered entity or it does not.
Tip: For request parameters, example inputs, response payloads and sandbox test data, see [Lookup - by Tax Id](https://developer.mastercard.com/merchant-identifier/documentation/tutorials-and-guides/endpoint-overview/lookup-by-tax-id/index.md) in the [Endpoint Overview](https://developer.mastercard.com/merchant-identifier/documentation/tutorials-and-guides/endpoint-overview/index.md). Tip: No tax id in your data? See [Know Your Business](https://developer.mastercard.com/merchant-identifier/documentation/use-cases/know-your-business/index.md) for descriptor-based and AI-powered verification pathways.

### Find Details on a Place {#find-details-on-a-place}

[Find Details on a Place](https://developer.mastercard.com/places/documentation/api-reference/#tag/Places/operation/getPlaceByLocationIdUsingGET)
Use a 'Location ID' obtained from Mastercard solutions such as Merchant Identifier to retrieve additional information about a merchant location. Places Details provides access to merchant attributes, location information, business status, and other merchant intelligence associated with a specific location.

## Useful Links {#useful-links}

* [View the full Open API Specification](https://developer.mastercard.com/merchant-identifier/documentation/api-reference/index.md)
* [Review the APIs error responses](https://developer.mastercard.com/merchant-identifier/documentation/code-and-formats/index.md)