How to get a NIF in Portugal
A NIF (número de identificação fiscal) is your Portuguese tax number: nine digits that stay the same for life, whether you are resident or not. A lease, a bank account, a phone contract and every government office will ask for it, so it comes first.
Short answer. Either a legal representative in Portugal asks for it for you online, with your power of attorney, or you ask for it yourself in person at a Serviço de Finanças or Loja do Cidadão, by appointment. You do not need a fiscal representative just to get the number.
Option 1: from abroad, through a representative
A legal representative in Portugal, for example a lawyer or a solicitador, can ask for your NIF through the Portal das Finanças e-balcão. They need:
- your power of attorney;
- a copy of your passport;
- a document showing your address abroad.
This is the route most people use when they want the NIF before they travel, to open a bank account or sign a lease remotely. Many companies sell it as a service; what you are paying for is the representative's time, not a different kind of NIF.
Option 2: in person at Finanças
Book an appointment at any Serviço de Finanças or Loja do Cidadão. On the Portal das Finanças: Contactos > Atendimento por marcação > "Pedido de NIF". Bring:
- your passport;
- a document with your address abroad.
If your nationality needs a visa for the Schengen area, Finanças looks for the entry visa in your passport.
Your NIF starts with your foreign address
Either way, the NIF is issued with your address abroad, as a non-resident. When you live in Portugal you change it to your Portuguese address at Finanças; that is what makes you a tax resident in their records. The planner puts that step in the right place for you.
When you do need a fiscal representative
Not for the number itself. But if you are not an EU citizen and your tax address is still outside the EU, you have to appoint a fiscal representative, or join the Finanças electronic notifications or the ViaCTT electronic mailbox, within 15 days of creating a "tax relationship" in Portugal. A tax relationship is, for example:
- owning property in Portugal;
- a car registered in Portugal;
- a Portuguese work contract;
- working as self-employed here.
Self-employment is stricter: while your tax address is outside the EU it needs a VAT fiscal representative resident in Portugal, appointed before you start, and the electronic notifications do not replace it.