Supplier tax ID (IFU): why verify your supplier's tax identification in OHADA

What the IFU is and what it does

The IFU (Unique Tax Identifier) is the number assigned by each country's tax authority to every registered taxpayer in the OHADA region. It plays the same role as France's SIRET or the US Tax ID.

Its primary function is identification: a supplier or customer is linked to its IFU across all the country's tax systems. This lets the tax authority cross-reference filings.

Its secondary function, and the most important for buyers, is VAT traceability. An invoice without a valid supplier IFU doesn't let the buyer deduct paid VAT.

Country formats

Each OHADA member state runs its own IFU with its own format. Benin: 13 digits. Côte d'Ivoire: 11 alphanumeric characters (CC + NUM). Senegal: 9 digits (NINEA). Cameroon: 14 characters. Togo: NIF with 13 digits.

This diversity forces any SME purchasing from suppliers in several OHADA countries to know the accepted formats in each jurisdiction where they operate.

An IFU's validity isn't just about format. The number must also correspond to an active taxpayer. A revoked, suspended or never-issued IFU doesn't enable VAT deduction.

The risks for the buyer

First risk, VAT deduction denied. If the buyer deducts VAT on an invoice from a supplier without a valid IFU, the tax authority can reverse that deduction during an audit. On large volumes, this can be heavy.

Second risk, joint tax liability. In some OHADA jurisdictions, the buyer can be held jointly liable for taxes unpaid by a supplier identified as non-filing.

Third risk, the loss of evidentiary value. An invoice issued by a supplier without an IFU lacks the evidentiary value of a compliant invoice. It can be challenged in audit, which creates a risk on accounting regularity.

How to verify an IFU

Three verification levels. Level 1, format: does the number match the country's structure (length, alphabet)? Automatic check.

Level 2, existence: does the number match a registered taxpayer? This check is done by consulting the country's tax register. Several tax authorities now offer online verification portals (often free and public).

Level 3, activity: is the taxpayer current with their tax obligations? This information isn't always public but can be requested from the supplier via a tax clearance certificate.

How Procura integrates IFU verification

Procura asks for the IFU at supplier-record creation in the SRM module. Format is auto-verified per declared country.

When an invoice arrives, the system checks that the IFU on the invoice matches the supplier record. Any mismatch triggers an alert before 3-way matching.

For purchases above a configurable threshold, the supplier's tax clearance can be requested and attached to the record. The audit trail preserves the version used at payment time.