Nick Taylor (asker) Feb 26, 2014:

Dear colleagues I am most grateful for your inestimable assistance and plethora of information, I now considier myself well and truly informed - regrettably I am only able to award points to one answerer! Thank you all.

Mario Freitas Feb 26, 2014:

Jefferson, ... and as Jefferson very correctly poitned out, if it appears only once in the text, it's adviseable to keep the CNPJ and add an explanation, just as suggested, or as Gilmar suggested below: "CNPJ (Corporate Taxpayer Number)".

Martin Riordan Feb 26, 2014:

Corporate Taxpayer Number As Mario points out, in Brazil companies have to register with innumerable official databases, each one for its own purpose. Therefore the term "Taxpayer" makes it clear that this particular database (CNPJ) is specifically for federal tax purposes and for this reason is administered by the Federal Revenue service (Receita Federal), an offshoot of the Ministry of Finance.

Jefferson D Boyles, ELS Feb 26, 2014:

When translating terms like this (i.e., those that are linguistically translatable but do not have an equivalent, culturally), I usually include the term in Portuguese (e.g., ". . . Brazilian Cadastro Nacional de Pessoa Jurídica (CNPJ, [whatever translation you choose]) . . ." If the abbreviation appears only once, I might opt to include all of that in a footnote and just keep "CNPJ" in the text.

(Obviously, "Cadastro Nacional de Pessoa Jurídica" would be in italics.)

Mario Freitas Feb 26, 2014:

Never mind, Nick, It's always fun to be in touch. However, the ProZ suggestion of "National Registry" is only partially correct. The CNPJ is a specific taxpayer number of the Federal Revenue. It's not the main or the only national registry number, as there is also a registration number at the Board of Commerce (Junta Comercial), at the state and municipal Revenues (inscrição estadual and municipal), NIRE, and other registration numbers. So "National Registration Number" is generic and "Corporate Taxpayer Number" is specific and more accurate for CNPJ.

Paulinho Fonseca Feb 26, 2014:

Hi Nick, a coffee would be fine... :-)

Nick Taylor (asker) Feb 26, 2014:

Thank you everyone I guess i should have used the Proz data base before wasting your time :-)

Mario Freitas Feb 26, 2014:

CNPJ I always translate this as corporate taxpayer number or taxpayer registration before the Federal Revenue, considering that the CPF is the individual taxpayer number. I'd say Georgia's answer is correct, but using "taxpayer" instead of "tax".

Paulinho Fonseca Feb 26, 2014:

Hi Nick,
in PT Brazil = Cadastro Nacional de Pessoa Jurídica

http://www.receita.fazenda.gov.br/pessoajuridica/cnpj/consul...

Claudio Mazotti Feb 26, 2014:

It has appeared in Proz:

National Registry of Legal Entities (CNPJ) / Brazilian Registry of Legal Entities (the “CNPJ”)

http://www.proz.com/kudoz/portuguese_to_english/law_patents/...