Tax Id Number in Portugal (NIF) for foreign companies

To request the Tax Id Number (NIF or NIPC) of a foreign company in order to develop an activity in Portugal, or of a foreign entity with no activity in Portugal, the entity must be identified in the Central File of Legal Persons, upon issuance by the RNPC of a certificate containing the identification number, company name, nationality, and mention of the purpose of the isolated act or activity to be practiced in Portugal.

The following documents will be required:

• Application form - for registration / identification of legal entity or similar entity duly filled and signed by the person who represents the entity, lawyer or solicitor, except if the request is made in person in the RNPC by the company Director or by a person with legitimacy;
• Identification of the fiscal representative for tax purposes (natural or legal person, resident in Portugal), in accordance with the article 19, paragraph 6, of Decree-Law no. 398/98 of December 17, except in the case of entities established in a country of the European Union;
• Proof of the legal existence of the entity in the country of origin (duly updated if it is an entity subject to registration) within the validity period, issued by the competent services; and proof of the position or quality of the subscriber of the application, accompanied by the respective translation, made by a person entitled to do so, unless the documents are in English, French or Spanish; It is not accepted as proof of legal existence documents printed from the Internet, unless it is assigned legal value by national legislation.
• Copy of the identification document of the applicant;
• Payment in the amount of € 50 (cost of registration).

The company's NIPC request may also be made without the presence of the director or manager of the company, and may be requested directly by the tax representative or someone appointed for this purpose.

The company may also need a VAT registration in Portugal, depending on the activities to carry out in portuguese territory. You can read more about this here.

Any questions or additional information, send us a message to info@intax.pt or leave your comment.

Updated February 2020