How to get a Portuguese NIF: from abroad through a proxy, or in person

What the NIF is

The Número de Identificação Fiscal — also called número de contribuinte — is issued by the Autoridade Tributária (AT) to every person with tax rights or obligations in Portugal, resident or not. Nine digits, the first eight sequential and the last a check digit (individuals’ numbers currently start with 3), and it never changes: the same number follows you from “non-resident” to “resident” when you move.

Registration is free. What people pay for is the representation and the queue.

• 0 € — the AT charges nothing for the NIF
• 2 documents: passport and proof of your foreign address
• 15 days to name a tax representative or join e-notifications once a tax relationship exists (non-EU residents)
• +351 217 206 707 the AT call centre for appointments (weekdays 9:00–19:00)

Three ways to obtain it

1. From abroad, through a proxy (e-balcão). The AT’s own leaflet describes it: a representante legal — a person you empower by power of attorney — opens a request on the Portal das Finanças e-balcão (area Registo Contribuinte, question Atrib/Alter NIF-Singulares) with a copy of your passport, a document showing your foreign address (unless it is on the passport) and their own identity plus the power of attorney. A power of attorney given to a lawyer or solicitador needs no notarised signature. If the proxy is also to be your tax representative, the power of attorney must say so. This is how Access Portugal obtains NIFs for clients who have not yet travelled.

2. In person, by appointment. At any Finanças office or Loja do Cidadão, booked on the Portal das Finanças (Atendimento por Marcação, subject Identificação › Pedido de NIF) or by phone. Bring the passport and proof of address. For a third-country national applying personally, the passport must show an entry visa for Portugal or the EU, unless you are from a visa-exempt country.

3. Through a proxy in person. The proxy attends with the power of attorney, an original or certified copy of your passport and the address proof.

In all cases the NIF is first issued as non-resident. When you settle, you change the address to a Portuguese one (in person, on the portal or through the e-balcão), which is the act that makes you a resident taxpayer.

The tax representative: when it is actually required

The leaflet is explicit: at the moment the NIF is issued to a non-resident, naming a tax representative is not mandatory. The duty arises later. If you establish a relação jurídica tributária — you own a car registered in Portugal, own property here, sign an employment contract for work in Portugal or start a self-employed activity here — you have 15 days to either appoint a tax representative in Portugal or join one of the electronic notification channels (the Finanças e-notifications system or the ViaCTT digital mailbox).

Two exceptions:

• residents of an EU country, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein (and Andorrans in Andorra) are exempt: representative or e-notifications are optional;
• a resident of a third country who carries on a self-employed activity in Portugal must appoint a VAT representative (a Portuguese-resident VAT taxpayer) before starting the activity, even if they join e-notifications.

Anyone with a Portuguese address — individual or company — can be a tax representative; a foreigner can be one if they hold a valid residence permit and are registered as resident with the AT. The appointment is made on the portal (Dados Cadastrais › Representante › Entregar Nomeação) and accepted by the representative, or through the e-balcão with the representative’s acceptance letter or your power of attorney.

After the NIF: the portal password and what follows

Ask for the Portal das Finanças password (sent by post to the address on file, or through the e-balcão to a proxy) — it is needed to change the address, appoint representatives, register a lease, issue invoices and file the IRS return. With the NIF you can then open the bank account, sign the lease, and request the NISS.

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