Foreign Diplomatic Missions/UN Organizations have shared various representations showing unwillingness of vendors/suppliers to record the Unique Identify Number (UIN) while making sales to such Missions/Consulates or UN organizations.

It has been alleged that sale or supply to Foreign Diplomatic Missions / UN Organizations is like any other Business to Consumer (B2C) sale and it will not have any additional effect on the supplier’s tax liability.

Keeping records of UIN while making such sales will enable Foreign Diplomatic Missions / UN Organizations to claim refund of the taxes paid by them in India. Therefore, it has been made mandatory that under any circumstance no supplier should decline to record the UIN of the diplomat / official on the tax invoice.

UIN is a 15-digit unique number allotted to any specialized agency of the United Nations Organization or any Multilateral Financial Institution and Organization notified under the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947, Consulate or Embassy of foreign countries.

First two digits of the UIN denotes State code where the Diplomatic Mission/Consulate/ Embassy is located.

Source: CAclubIndia