What does a register entry not prove?

A register entry proves one thing: that the register holds the entry shown, for the unit named, at the date of the check. It does not prove that the unit carries on the activity shown, it does not prove that the unit holds a licence, it does not prove a tax position, and it does not prove a status such as trading, dormant, or authorised. Those are different facts, held in different records, by different holders.

A register entry that is quoted as proof of a different fact overstates the record, and the overstatement is the most common misreading of a code in the wild.

Why does an entry not prove activity?

An entry records a classification assigned on the basis of an activity description, at a point in time. Activity can change without the entry being updated, the description given at registration can be incomplete, and a reclassification can change the code without any change in activity. The Central Statistics Office states that NACE coding is based on the principal activity of a unit, where most of the gross value is added, and that a unit should be classified to the category that best describes its activity. That is a coding basis for statistics. It is not a finding that the unit carries on only that activity, or that it carries it on at a particular scale. A unit can carry on secondary activities that are not shown in a single principal code, and a unit can hold a code for an activity it has stopped carrying on, until the holder updates the record. The entry is evidence of the record. Activity itself is evidenced by the unit’s own records, contracts, and outputs, which the register does not hold.

What is the difference between a code and a licence?

A code is a category in a statistical classification. A licence is a permission granted by an authority, under the law that governs the activity, on conditions set by that authority. The two are recorded separately, and neither implies the other. The EUR-Lex summary states that the NACE legislation only applies to the use of the classification for statistical purposes, and does not oblige member states to collect, publish or supply data. A licence, by contrast, is an administrative act with legal effect, and its existence is proved by the licence document and the licensing register, not by a statistical code. A business can hold a code for an activity that requires a licence and hold no licence. A business can hold a licence and hold a code that does not describe the licensed activity, where the principal activity differs. A reader who treats a code as a licence, in either direction, confuses a statistical category with a legal permission.

What does an entry not prove about tax, funding or agreements?

An entry does not prove a tax position, a funding eligibility, a collective agreement, or a social security status. Those positions are decided under tax law, funding rules, collective agreements, and social security law, by the bodies that administer them, on the facts those bodies require. A statistical code can be used by those bodies as one input among others, but the code does not decide the outcome, and this guide does not present it as doing so. A reader who is told that a code decides one of those questions should ask for the instrument that states the rule, and should check whether the rule refers to the code, to the activity, or to other facts entirely. In many cases, the rule will refer to facts that the register does not hold, and the code will be irrelevant to the decision. The limit is not a gap in the register. It is the boundary of the classification, and it should be stated plainly wherever a code is quoted.

Fact	Proved by	Not proved by a code entry
Activity carried on	Unit records, contracts, outputs	Code entry alone
Licence held	Licence document and licensing register	Code entry alone
Tax position	Tax record and tax law	Code entry alone
Funding eligibility	Funding rules and the funding decision	Code entry alone
Status, such as trading	Register status record, where held	Code entry alone

The table is a boundary map. It does not state that a code is useless. It states what a code is for: statistical description and register identification. Within that boundary, a code is precise and checkable. Outside it, a code is not evidence.

How is an entry quoted honestly?

An entry is quoted honestly when the quotation names the register, the unit identifier, the code as shown, the version, and the check date, and when it states that the quotation is a record of the entry, not a finding about the unit. A quotation that gives only the code, without the register and the date, cannot be checked, and it invites the reader to treat the code as a freestanding fact about the business. A quotation that adds a claim about activity, licence or status, without a source for that claim, adds a fact the register does not contain. The honest form is longer, and it is longer for a reason: the extra words are the limits of the record, and the limits are part of the record.

Where is the underlying fact confirmed?

The entry is confirmed with the register that holds it. The activity is confirmed from the unit’s own records. The licence is confirmed with the licensing authority. The tax position is confirmed with the tax authority. The funding decision is confirmed with the funding body. The classification meaning is confirmed in the Eurostat explanatory notes, and the move between versions in the correspondence tables. Each fact has its holder, and a code entry should never be used as a shortcut to a holder it does not belong to.

Quote the register, the identifier, the code, the version and the check date together, and confirm any other fact with the holder that records it.