How to Check Your TIN Number with Your NIC and OTP

This is the full walkthrough of the Sri Lanka TIN check, start to finish, with the fixes for the three problems that stop most people: the OTP that never arrives, an NIC the portal will not accept, and a mobile number that no longer matches the one on file. The whole thing takes about two minutes when it goes smoothly, and it is free on the official IRD portal.

What you need before you start

Your NIC number, copied exactly as it appears on your card.
Your mobile phone or email inbox — whichever the IRD already has for you — because the one-time password (OTP) is sent there.
A few quiet minutes. The OTP is time-sensitive, so do the check in one sitting.

The steps

Open www.ird.gov.lk in your browser.
Click e-Services, then Access to e-Services.
Choose Verify Authenticity of Registration.
Choose Verify Registration. (The other option, Verify Certificate, checks a certificate number — different job, explained on our homepage.)
Type your NIC number.
Type your mobile number or email address.
Click Send OTP and wait for the code.
Enter the OTP exactly as received.
Click Search.

If a TIN is registered against your NIC, it displays on screen. Print or screenshot that page now — as our page on the certificate vs the verification printout explains, banks and other offices accept that printout in place of the formal certificate for the transactions that have needed one since 1 November 2026.

If nothing displays, do not panic and do not start a fresh registration on impulse. Read what "TIN not displayed" means first: sometimes the registration sits under an old NIC format or a slightly different name, and a duplicate registration is a headache you can avoid.

Fix 1: the OTP never arrives

Work through these in order.

Give it two minutes. SMS delivery can lag. Requesting code after code can stack up several OTPs, and then only the newest one works — a common reason people enter a "wrong" code.
Check the other channel. If you asked for the code by SMS, try the email option instead, and look in the spam folder.
Check the number you typed. One wrong digit sends your code to a stranger's phone. Re-enter it slowly.
Signal and blocking. Some phones filter unknown senders into a blocked or spam messages folder. Look there before requesting again.
Wait and retry once. If the portal itself seems down, come back in an hour rather than firing repeated requests.

Still nothing after all that? The contact details on file may be an old number you no longer use — that is Fix 3 below.

Fix 2: the portal will not accept your NIC

Sri Lanka has two NIC formats, and this trips people up constantly.

Old format: 9 digits followed by a letter, V or X (for example 123456789V). Type the letter as part of the number, in capitals, with no spaces.
New format: 12 digits, no letter.
Which one does the IRD hold? If you were registered years ago — by an employer or a bank — your file may carry your old-format number even if you now hold a new card. Try the format exactly as it was when you were likely registered. If you renewed your NIC and your registration predates the new card, the old number is the better first try.
No spaces, no dashes. Copy the number as one unbroken string.

Fix 3: your mobile number has changed

The OTP goes to the mobile number or email the IRD already holds. If you changed numbers since you were registered, no trick on the portal will redirect that code — the system is doing its job by refusing. Try the email route if you still use the same email address. If both contacts are dead, the fix is human: call the IRD call centre on 1944 (Monday to Friday 9 am to 7 pm, Saturday 9 am to 1 pm) or visit an IRD office with your NIC and ask for your contact details to be updated. Anyone online who offers to "update it instantly" for a fee is a scammer — walk away.

One last safety note

Do the check only on eservices.ird.gov.lk, reached through the official site or our official portal page. The check is free, and the IRD never asks for your OTP by phone. Quick recap of the homepage guide is on the TIN registration check page if you want the short version again.