Brazil's Receita Federal to Issue Alphanumeric CNPJ Numbers from July 31

The Federal Revenue Service of Brazil announced that, starting July 31, new business registrations will receive the Cadastro Nacional da Pessoa Jurídica (CNPJ) in an alphanumeric format. The 14‑character identifier will combine letters and numbers, while the last two digits will remain numeric for verification.

The change applies only to newly issued CNPJs; existing numbers remain unchanged and no updates are required from current companies. The reform expands the pool of possible identifiers, addressing the depletion of numeric combinations—about 69 million of the roughly 100 million possible numeric codes are already used. During the transition, both numeric and alphanumeric CNPJs will be accepted by public agencies, banks, commercial registries and other institutions. The Receita Federal recommends that businesses, banks, public bodies and software developers update their systems to recognize the new format.