diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 16e9b3c..7eb559e 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ module github.com/veraison/swid
 go 1.15
 
 require (
+	github.com/fxamacker/cbor v1.5.1
 	github.com/fxamacker/cbor/v2 v2.2.0
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.6.1
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index fc5a34c..92702e8 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0 h1:ZDRjVQ15GmhC3fiQ8ni8+OwkZQO4DARzQgrnXU1Liz8=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/fxamacker/cbor v1.5.1 h1:XjQWBgdmQyqimslUh5r4tUGmoqzHmBFQOImkWGi2awg=
+github.com/fxamacker/cbor v1.5.1/go.mod h1:3aPGItF174ni7dDzd6JZ206H8cmr4GDNBGpPa971zsU=
 github.com/fxamacker/cbor/v2 v2.2.0 h1:6eXqdDDe588rSYAi1HfZKbx6YYQO4mxQ9eC6xYpU/JQ=
 github.com/fxamacker/cbor/v2 v2.2.0/go.mod h1:TA1xS00nchWmaBnEIxPSE5oHLuJBAVvqrtAnWBwBCVo=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
diff --git a/softwareidentity.go b/softwareidentity.go
index b101e25..71055c1 100644
--- a/softwareidentity.go
+++ b/softwareidentity.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package swid
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"encoding/xml"
+	"errors"
 )
 
 // SoftwareIdentity represents the top-level SWID
@@ -189,12 +190,12 @@ func (t *SoftwareIdentity) FromCBOR(data []byte) error {
 }
 
 func (t *SoftwareIdentity) setTagID(v interface{}) error {
-	tagID, err := checkTagID(v)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
+	tagID := NewTagID(v)
+	if tagID == nil {
+		return errors.New("bad type for TagID: expecting string or [16]byte")
 	}
 
-	t.TagID = tagID
+	t.TagID = *tagID
 
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/softwareidentity_test.go b/softwareidentity_test.go
index af0b900..94fba5a 100644
--- a/softwareidentity_test.go
+++ b/softwareidentity_test.go
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ func makeACMEEntityWithRoles(t *testing.T, roles ...interface{}) Entity {
 
 func TestTag_RoundtripPSABundle(t *testing.T) {
 	tv := SoftwareIdentity{
-		TagID:           TagID("example.acme.roadrunner-sw-v1-0-0"),
+		TagID:           *NewTagID("example.acme.roadrunner-sw-v1-0-0"),
 		SoftwareName:    "Roadrunner software bundle",
 		SoftwareVersion: "1.0.0",
 		Entities: Entities{
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ func TestTag_RoundtripPSABundle(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestTag_RoundtripPSAComponent(t *testing.T) {
 	tv := SoftwareIdentity{
-		TagID:           TagID("example.acme.roadrunner-sw-bl-v1-0-0"),
+		TagID:           *NewTagID("example.acme.roadrunner-sw-bl-v1-0-0"),
 		SoftwareName:    "Roadrunner boot loader",
 		SoftwareVersion: "1.0.0",
 		Entities: Entities{
diff --git a/tagid.go b/tagid.go
index 6085d6f..e7241c6 100644
--- a/tagid.go
+++ b/tagid.go
@@ -4,24 +4,125 @@
 package swid
 
 import (
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"encoding/xml"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/fxamacker/cbor"
 )
 
 // TagID is the type of a tag identifier. Allowed formats (enforced via
 // checkTagID) are string or [16]byte
-type TagID interface{}
+type TagID struct {
+	val interface{}
+}
+
+// NewTagID returns a TagID initialized with the supplied value v
+// v is either a string or a [16]byte
+func NewTagID(v interface{}) *TagID {
+	if checkTagID(v) != nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return &TagID{v}
+}
+
+// String returns the value of the TagID as string. If the TagID has type
+// [16]byte the Base 16 encoding is returned
+func (t TagID) String() string {
+	switch v := t.val.(type) {
+	case string:
+		return v
+	case []byte:
+		return hex.EncodeToString(v)
+	default:
+		return "unknown type for tag-id"
+	}
+}
 
-func checkTagID(v interface{}) (TagID, error) {
+func checkTagID(v interface{}) error {
 	switch t := v.(type) {
 	case string:
 	case []byte:
 		if len(t) != 16 {
-			return nil, errors.New("binary tag-id MUST be 16 bytes")
+			return errors.New("binary tag-id MUST be 16 bytes")
 		}
 	default:
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("tag-id MUST be []byte or string; got %T", v)
+		return fmt.Errorf("tag-id MUST be []byte or string; got %T", v)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (t TagID) isString() bool {
+	switch t.val.(type) {
+	case string:
+		return true
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// MarshalXMLAttr encodes the TagID receiver as XML attribute
+func (t TagID) MarshalXMLAttr(name xml.Name) (xml.Attr, error) {
+	if !t.isString() {
+		return xml.Attr{}, errors.New("only tag-id of type string can be serialized to XML")
+	}
+	return xml.Attr{Name: name, Value: t.String()}, nil
+}
+
+// UnmarshalXMLAttr decodes the supplied XML attribute into a TagID
+// Note that this can only unmarshal to string.
+func (t *TagID) UnmarshalXMLAttr(attr xml.Attr) error {
+	t.val = attr.Value
+	return nil
+}
+
+// MarshalJSON encodes the TagID receiver as JSON string
+func (t TagID) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
+	if !t.isString() {
+		return nil, errors.New("only tag-id of type string can be serialized to JSON")
+	}
+
+	return json.Marshal(t.val)
+}
+
+// UnmarshalJSON decodes the supplied JSON data into a TagID
+// Note that this can only unmarshal to string.
+func (t *TagID) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
+	var v interface{}
+
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &v); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	switch s := v.(type) {
+	case string:
+		t.val = s
+		return nil
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("expecting string, found %T instead", s)
+	}
+}
+
+// MarshalCBOR encodes the TagID receiver to CBOR
+func (t TagID) MarshalCBOR() ([]byte, error) {
+	return em.Marshal(t.val)
+}
+
+// UnmarshalCBOR decodes the supplied data into a TagID
+func (t *TagID) UnmarshalCBOR(data []byte) error {
+	var v interface{}
+
+	if err := cbor.Unmarshal(data, &v); err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
-	return TagID(v), nil
+	if err := checkTagID(v); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	t.val = v
+
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/tagid_test.go b/tagid_test.go
index f82c5bf..34e1a02 100644
--- a/tagid_test.go
+++ b/tagid_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 package swid
 
 import (
+	"encoding/xml"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -15,12 +16,12 @@ func TestTagID_16Bytes(t *testing.T) {
 		0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01,
 	}
 
-	expected := tv
+	expected := "00010001000100010001000100010001"
 
-	actual, err := checkTagID(tv)
+	actual := NewTagID(tv)
 
-	assert.Nil(t, err)
-	assert.Equal(t, expected, actual)
+	assert.NotNil(t, actual)
+	assert.Equal(t, expected, actual.String())
 }
 
 func TestTagID_15Bytes(t *testing.T) {
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ func TestTagID_15Bytes(t *testing.T) {
 		0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00,
 	}
 
-	_, err := checkTagID(tv)
+	err := checkTagID(tv)
 
 	assert.EqualError(t, err, "binary tag-id MUST be 16 bytes")
 }
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ func TestTagID_17Bytes(t *testing.T) {
 		0x00,
 	}
 
-	_, err := checkTagID(tv)
+	err := checkTagID(tv)
 
 	assert.EqualError(t, err, "binary tag-id MUST be 16 bytes")
 }
@@ -49,10 +50,10 @@ func TestTagID_17Bytes(t *testing.T) {
 func TestTagID_String(t *testing.T) {
 	tv := "example.acme.roadrunner-sw-v1-0-0"
 
-	actual, err := checkTagID(tv)
+	actual := NewTagID(tv)
 
-	assert.Nil(t, err)
-	assert.Equal(t, tv, actual)
+	assert.NotNil(t, actual)
+	assert.Equal(t, tv, actual.String())
 }
 
 func TestTagID_UnhandledType(t *testing.T) {
@@ -64,7 +65,77 @@ func TestTagID_UnhandledType(t *testing.T) {
 		b: "one",
 	}
 
-	_, err := checkTagID(tv)
+	err := checkTagID(tv)
 
 	assert.EqualError(t, err, "tag-id MUST be []byte or string; got struct { a int; b string }")
 }
+
+func TestTagID_UnmarshalXMLAttrString(t *testing.T) {
+	v := "example.acme.roadrunner-sw-v1-0-0"
+
+	tv := xml.Attr{
+		Name:  xml.Name{Local: "tagId"},
+		Value: v,
+	}
+
+	expected := *NewTagID(v)
+
+	var actual TagID
+
+	err := actual.UnmarshalXMLAttr(tv)
+
+	assert.Nil(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, expected, actual)
+}
+
+func TestTagID_MarshalXMLAttrString(t *testing.T) {
+	v := "example.acme.roadrunner-sw-v1-0-0"
+
+	tv := *NewTagID(v)
+
+	expected := xml.Attr{
+		Name:  xml.Name{Local: "tagId"},
+		Value: v,
+	}
+
+	actual, err := tv.MarshalXMLAttr(xml.Name{Local: "tagId"})
+
+	assert.Nil(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, expected, actual)
+}
+
+func TestTagID_MarshalXMLAttrBytes(t *testing.T) {
+	v := []byte{
+		0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01,
+		0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01,
+	}
+
+	tv := *NewTagID(v)
+
+	_, err := tv.MarshalXMLAttr(xml.Name{Local: "tagId"})
+
+	assert.EqualError(t, err, "only tag-id of type string can be serialized to XML")
+}
+
+func TestTagID_MarshalJSONBytes(t *testing.T) {
+	v := []byte{
+		0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01,
+		0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01,
+	}
+
+	tv := *NewTagID(v)
+
+	_, err := tv.MarshalJSON()
+
+	assert.EqualError(t, err, "only tag-id of type string can be serialized to JSON")
+}
+
+func TestTagID_UnMarshalJSONUnhandled(t *testing.T) {
+	tv := []byte(`{ "k": "0" }`)
+
+	var actual TagID
+
+	err := actual.UnmarshalJSON(tv)
+
+	assert.EqualError(t, err, "expecting string, found map[string]interface {} instead")
+}