Glossary of Algerian business acronyms: NIF, NIS, RC, AI, C20, G8, G12, G50, IFU, BP

When you start a business in Algeria, everyone asks you for your “numbers”. Here is what each acronym means, in the order you meet them. The source is given for each definition; what we could not confirm is said plainly in the last section.

Identification numbers

NIF (tax identification number)

Assigned by the tax administration. According to the CNRC page, it generally has fifteen positions, and twenty for a branch-type unit of a legal entity (secondary establishment, branch). Our NIF and NIS checker only checks this format.

NIS (statistical identification number)

Assigned by the National Statistics Office. Fifteen digits, eighteen for a secondary establishment (executive decree 97-396). It appears in the list of invoice mentions published by the Ministry of Commerce.

NIN (national identification number)

A natural person’s personal number. It appears on the official form for the voluntary tax regularisation, and the DGI requires each employee’s NIN on the G n°29 (2026 Finance Law, art. 8).

RC (commercial register)

Issued by the National Centre of the Commercial Register (CNRC). For a trader, the DGI takes the date on the commercial register as the start of activity. An auto-entrepreneur does not have one: they hold an ANAE card.

Returns and taxes

G8 (existence declaration)

The “Series G n°8” declaration is filed within thirty days of starting, at the tax inspection or local tax centre you depend on. The fine for being late is 30,000 DA.

G12 and G12 bis

For an IFU taxpayer, G n°12 is the provisional turnover return (by 30 June), G n°12 bis the final return (by 20 January of the following year). A new taxpayer files only the G12 bis. The dates, step by step, are in our article on the G12 and G12 bis deadlines.

G50 and G50 ter

The G50 is the monthly return of the real regime (VAT, withholdings), filed from the 1st to the 20th of the following month according to the tax calendar. G n°50 ter is the payment slip for salary IRG for IFU taxpayers who have employees.

G29

The annual return of salaries and wages.

IFU (single flat-rate tax)

A simplified tax that combines the local solidarity tax (TLS), VAT and the global income tax (IRG). The auto-entrepreneur’s 0.5% rate is explained in the tax guide.

IRG and VAT

The IRG is the global income tax, which an employer withholds from wages. VAT (TVA) is charged on sales; our VAT calculator converts both ways between excluding and including tax.

Bodies

ANAE

The National Auto-Entrepreneur Agency issues the auto-entrepreneur card (law 22-23). See the registration walkthrough.

CASNOS and CNAS

CASNOS is the social security fund for the self-employed (auto-entrepreneurs included), CNAS the one for employees. For the auto-entrepreneur’s contribution, see the article on the 24,000 DA flat fee or 15%.

DGI

The General Directorate of Taxes.

Acronyms without an official definition we could read

Three acronyms come up constantly, but we could not re-read their definition on an official DGI page, because the DGI site was unreachable from our tools when we checked.

The AI, “article d’imposition”, is the number of your file at the tax office that manages you; you see it in some companies’ legal mentions, next to the RC, NIF and NIS. The C20, “certificat d’existence” (series C n°20), is issued, from what we read, by the office that manages your tax file. The BP would be an identifier used on the DGI’s online services portal. If you have these definitions in front of you on an official document, write to us: we will confirm them and date the update in the corrections log.