Malta Tax ID Number

Detects Malta Tax ID Number patterns. This pattern is based on a Microsoft Purview built-in sensitive information type. Due to the numeric format, corroborative evidence keywords are essential for reliable detection.

Type: regex
Engine: universal
Confidence: medium
Confidence justification: Medium confidence: seven to eight digit numbers are common. Keywords like 'numru tat-taxxa' or 'Malta tax' improve detection reliability. Added context gating and exclusion rules improve precision and reduce incidental matches.
Detection quality: Verified
Jurisdictions: mt, eu
Regulations: gdpr
Data categories: pii, financial, government-id
Scope: narrow
Risk rating: 7
Platform compatibility: Purview: Compatible, GCP DLP: Compatible, Macie: Compatible, Zscaler: Compatible, Palo Alto: Compatible, Netskope: Compatible

Pattern

\b\d{7,8}[A-Z]?\b

Corroborative evidence keywords

tax identification, TIN, numru tat-taxxa, Malta tax, IRD, tax identification number, tax number, tax return, NIF, tax ID, inland revenue, taxpayer identification, αριθμός φορολογικού μητρώου, ΑΦΜ, φορολογικός, Abgabenkontonummer, adóazonosító, adószám, belastingnummer, BSN (+44 more)

Proximity: 300 characters

Should match

1234567A — Maltese tax ID with letter suffix
12345678 — Eight-digit Maltese tax number
9876543M — Maltese TIN format

Should not match

123456 — Six digits, too short for Maltese tax ID
123456789 — Nine digits, exceeds Maltese tax ID format
template example placeholder record identifier — Template/sample context should be excluded even when anchor words are present

Known false positives

Generic numeric sequences in non-tax contexts such as reference numbers or account identifiers Mitigation: Require corroborative evidence keywords within the proximity window to distinguish tax identifiers from general numeric data.
Numbers from other identification schemes with similar digit patterns Mitigation: Layer with jurisdiction-specific detection to prioritise matches in tax-related documents and cross-reference with other identifier types.

References

Malta Tax ID Number entity definition - Microsoft Learn