Your 9-digit Portuguese tax number: who needs one, 3 ways to get it from abroad, documents, and when a representative is required.
Short answer. A NIF is your Portuguese taxpayer number: nine digits, issued by the tax authority (Finanças). You need it before you can open a bank account, sign a lease, buy property or take a job here. You can get it in person, or from abroad through someone holding your power of attorney.
In more detail. A NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal) is the nine-digit taxpayer number issued by the Portuguese tax authority (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira, known to nearly everyone as "Finanças"). You need one before you can open a bank account, sign a contract such as a lease, own property or take a job in Portugal. You can get it in person by appointment, or from abroad through someone in Portugal holding your power of attorney. The popular belief that you must hire a fiscal representative to get the number is wrong: the tax authority's own instructions say a representative is not required to obtain it. One becomes mandatory only if you live outside the EU/EEA and then acquire property, a vehicle, a job or a business in Portugal, and you then have 15 days to appoint one or activate electronic notifications instead. One government page still says otherwise; see the caution under the decision table.
Who this page is for. Foreign nationals (and Portuguese citizens living abroad) who need a personal NIF in 2026. Company NIFs, inheritance NIFs and the special "45" numbers issued through a paying entity follow rules of their own and are not covered here.
On this page
NIF stands for Número de Identificação Fiscal: the Portuguese tax identification number. The law defines the NIF number as "a sequential number intended exclusively for processing tax and customs information" (Decreto-Lei 14/2013, art. 2). For individuals it has nine digits: eight sequential plus a check digit, and the first digit runs from 1 to 4 (art. 4). In conversation you will hear it called the número de contribuinte. It stays the same whether you are registered as a resident or a non-resident (AT leaflet §1), and each person may hold only one (art. 4(4)).
A NIF does not make you a Portuguese tax resident. Residence is a separate test: more than 183 days, consecutive or not, in any 12-month period starting or ending in the year, or a home here on any day of that period in conditions suggesting you intend to keep and occupy it as your habitual residence (Código do IRS, art. 16(1)(a), (b)). A change of residence status must be reported to Finanças within 60 days (Lei Geral Tributária, art. 19(5)). Residence follows from the facts in that test, not from what you have registered, so do not assume an unreported move leaves you non-resident. The paperwork describes your life; it does not get to decide it.
Nor do non-resident NIFs start with 45, whatever you may have read. Under art. 4(3) the "45" prefix is reserved for non-residents who only receive Portuguese income subject to final withholding, and that number is requested by the paying entity, not by you. A non-resident who applies in the normal way gets an ordinary number.
By law, anyone "subject to obligations or wishing to exercise rights before the tax authority" (DL 14/2013, art. 3). In practice the number is asked for long before any tax is due, and by people who have never met a tax inspector. The government's own service page says it is needed "para comprar bens ou serviços, fazer contratos ou abrir contas bancárias" (gov.pt), and the tax authority lists employment, contracts, bank accounts and social security among the everyday acts that depend on it (AT leaflet §1). The usual order of events:
Visa, residence and tax-regime applications, schools and health services also ask for it in practice.
So get the NIF first, from abroad if you can, because almost everything else is politely waiting for it.
Many guides still say a non-EU applicant must appoint a fiscal representative to get a NIF. For the number itself, that is out of date. After Decreto-Lei 44/2022 amended art. 19 of the LGT, the tax authority issued an instruction to its offices (Ofício-Circulado 90057/2022, 20 July 2022) that leaves little room for doubt: "No ato de inscrição e atribuição de NIF a cidadão nacional ou estrangeiro, como não residente, com morada em país terceiro [...] não é obrigatória a designação de representante fiscal" (§2). Representation is triggered later, by what you do.
| Your situation | Fiscal representative? | Source |
|---|---|---|
| You live in the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, or you are an Andorran citizen living in Andorra | Never mandatory. Optional at every stage. | LGT art. 19(8); OC 90057/2022 §3.2 note; AT leaflet §3.1 |
| You live outside the EU/EEA and only want the number (no property, job, vehicle or business yet) | Not required to obtain the NIF. | OC 90057/2022 §2 |
| You live outside the EU/EEA and then buy property or a vehicle, or sign an employment contract in Portugal | Within 15 days: appoint a representative or activate electronic notifications on the Portal das Finanças (or ViaCTT). Either satisfies the law. | OC 90057/2022 §3, 3.1, 3.2; LGT art. 19(6), (15); DL 14/2013 art. 24(1) |
| You live outside the EU/EEA and start a self-employed activity in Portugal | A VAT representative (a VAT-registered person resident in Portugal) is mandatory before you start. Electronic notifications do not waive it. | OC 90057/2022 §3.1, 3.2, §5; CIVA arts. 30, 31 |
| You leave Portugal for a non-EU/EEA country while keeping a tax link here | Within 15 days of changing your address: representative or electronic notifications. | OC 90057/2022 §4 |
| You become a Portuguese tax resident | Report the change within 60 days and ask for the representation to be cancelled. | LGT art. 19(5); AT leaflet §2.1, §7 |
A caution on conflicting official sources. The statute is worded more broadly than the tax authority's reading of it: LGT art. 19(6) says taxpayers "residentes no estrangeiro" must appoint a representative, and DL 14/2013 art. 23(1) says the same of non-residents obliged to hold a NIF "salvo disposição em contrário". The tax authority's instruction and its July 2025 leaflet narrow this as described above, but the government services page (gov.pt, updated 1 September 2026) still tells non-EU applicants "É obrigatório indicar um representante fiscal em Portugal". Official sources, like old friends, do not always agree. If a counter or a bank asks you for one, bring a copy of OC 90057/2022 §2, or apply through a proxy who can also act as representative.
Two further cautions. First, the electronic-notification route only works once you have Portal das Finanças credentials, and those are issued after the NIF exists. Second, if you later cancel electronic notifications while living outside the EU/EEA, the cancellation only takes effect after a representative is appointed (LGT art. 19(16)).
Sarah, Manchester, buying a flat in Lisbon she will not live in. UK resident, so outside the EU/EEA. She can get her NIF through a power of attorney without a representative. The day she signs the deed she becomes the owner of Portuguese property, which starts a tax relationship; she then has 15 days to appoint a representative or activate electronic notifications. Owning property brings recurring dealings with Finanças, and renting the flat out would add a return to file, so a representative who also handles her filings is the lower-risk choice.
Miguel, São Paulo, moving to Porto on a work visa in March. Brazilian, so non-EU. He gets a non-resident NIF now, from Brazil, to open a bank account and sign a lease before he lands. Once he is living in Porto (over 183 days, or a home kept as habitual residence), he has 60 days to change his address with Finanças to resident status. At that point no representative is needed. He is simply a resident Portuguese taxpayer, a less romantic title than it sounds.
Anna, Berlin, spending summers in the Algarve. German, so EU. She may apply herself or through a proxy, and a fiscal representative is optional at every stage, even if she buys a house. Anyone selling her annual representation as a legal requirement is wrong.
An appointment is mandatory: foreign nationals "podem pedir o NIF no atendimento presencial, sempre com marcação prévia" (gov.pt; AT Newsletter #32, June 2025). Book on the Portal das Finanças under Contactos, Atendimento por Marcação, choosing the option "Para pedido de NIF ou alteração de morada para pessoas sem cartão de cidadão", or by phone on (+351) 217 206 707, working days 9:00 to 19:00. The registration is made "mediante declaração verbal" of your details, which are entered on the spot, printed for you to confirm, and followed by an authenticated proof of registration carrying your NIF, handed to you at the counter (DL 14/2013, art. 8(1), (4), (5)). The number is issued at the appointment itself. The delay, as with so much in life, lies in getting the slot.
The law allows registration to be requested by "the interested party, their representative or business manager" (art. 6(1)). Your proxy attends the appointment with your documents and the power of attorney, or files online. The power of attorney must have a recognised signature unless it is granted to a lawyer or solicitador acting in that capacity (Portal FAQ 00299, question 4991; AT leaflet §2.1). This is the route for anyone abroad.
There is an online channel, but not a self-service one for a first NIF. The AT states the request is made "pelo representante legal do cidadão estrangeiro" through e-balcão, filed under Registo Contribuinte, Identific, Atrib/Alter NIF-Singulares, with your passport, proof of foreign address and the representative's ID and power of attorney attached. The AT notes it is "figura distinta do representante fiscal": the person filing for you is a legal proxy, not necessarily your fiscal representative. Documents filed this way are subject to later verification. The AT publishes no processing time for this channel; any number you see on a commercial site is that firm's experience, not an official standard.
Who can act. Any individual or company domiciled in Portugal (DL 14/2013, art. 23(2)). The representative must expressly accept the appointment (art. 23(2)); an appointment without that acceptance carries the same fine as no appointment at all (RGIT art. 124(1)). A foreign national can act if they hold a valid residence permit and are registered as resident with the AT (AT leaflet §3.3; the gov.pt service page describes the representative more narrowly, as a Portuguese citizen or a company, so expect questions if you appoint a foreign resident). For a self-employed non-resident the representative must be VAT-registered (OC 90057/2022 §5).
What the representative does. Under OC 90057/2022 §6, the representative ensures: receipt of tax authority correspondence (your tax domicile becomes their address, DL 14/2013 art. 23(3)); compliance with all accessory obligations, "incluindo o da entrega de declarações de rendimentos"; and the exercise of your rights, including complaints and appeals.
What the representative is liable for. "O representante fiscal não é responsável pelo pagamento dos impostos do cidadão não residente", with one exception: if you run a self-employed activity subject to VAT, the representative is also liable for the VAT, jointly with you (OC 90057/2022 §6; CIVA art. 30(3), (5)). The representative answers for deadlines and filings, not for your income tax bill.
If you fail to appoint one when required. A fine of EUR 75 to EUR 7,500 (RGIT art. 124(1)), and you cannot exercise rights before the tax authority, including filing a complaint or appeal, until you do (LGT art. 19(7)).
How to appoint. On the Portal das Finanças (Dados Cadastrais, Representante, Entregar Nomeação), choosing IRS or IVA e IRS; through e-balcão with either the representative's signed acceptance or your power of attorney attached; or in person. The appointment only takes effect when the representative confirms it.
How to change or end it. Appoint the new representative by the same channels. A representative may resign by written notice to your last known address; the resignation binds the AT once communicated, and the AT has 90 days to update the record, provided a year has passed since the appointment or a replacement has been named (LGT art. 19(9), (10)). Do not let an appointment lapse: where representation is mandatory and a resigning representative has demonstrably asked you to replace them, the AT may suspend your NIF until you do (DL 14/2013, art. 26(5)).
Neither DL 14/2013 nor the tax authority's non-resident leaflet sets a fee for registering a NIF. The government services page puts it this way: "O pedido do NIF é gratuito para pessoas com Cartão de Cidadão. Pode ter custos noutros casos. Por exemplo, quando o pedido é feito através de um representante fiscal" (gov.pt). The costs come from the route you choose: a professional's fee for applying from abroad, notarial or apostille costs for the power of attorney, certified translations, and ongoing representation where the law requires it. We send a written proposal by email after the first assessment: get in touch here.
OnCorporate is a tax and accounting firm in Lisbon. Our NIF services cover NIF registration as your proxy and, where you need or want it, fiscal representation.
We confirm the timeline when we start, because it depends on the channel and on your documents being complete. We send a written proposal by email after the first assessment: get in touch here.
Yes, according to the tax authority's instruction of July 2022 (OC 90057/2022 §2), wherever you live. The obligation arises later, for non-EU/EEA residents, when you acquire property, a vehicle, a job or a business here. One government page still says otherwise; see the caution above.
No. Tax residence depends on days spent and a home kept here (Código do IRS, art. 16), not on holding a number. Obligations come from what you do here, such as owning property, working or earning Portuguese income, not from the number itself.
Not for a first NIF: the online channel is filed by your legal proxy through e-balcão. Once you have the number and portal credentials, later changes (address, representative, notifications) are self-service.
Yes, it is optional (LGT art. 19(8)). It can be sensible if you own property here and would rather not keep an eye on the portal yourself.
Your number stays the same. Report your new address and resident status within 60 days, through e-balcão or in person, with your residence document; representation then ends.
No, except for VAT if you are self-employed here, where the representative is also liable. The representative's duty is correspondence, filings and the exercise of your rights.
A fine of EUR 75 to EUR 7,500 and loss of the right to complain or appeal until the appointment is made.
This page is general information, not personalised tax advice. Rules cited apply to Portugal for 2026; your own position depends on your residence, income and documents.
Written by OnCorporate Editorial Team. Approved for publication by João Teixeira de Freitas, Director of Operations. Tax review by Luiz Augusto Teixeira de Freitas, Director: in progress. Applies to 2026, Portugal. Published 19 October 2026. Last substantively reviewed 19 October 2026.
Update history: 19 October 2026 substantive rewrite. Corrected: the earlier version said non-EU residents must appoint a fiscal representative to obtain a NIF, and that Swiss residents are exempt from representation; both are superseded or unsupported by Ofício-Circulado 90057/2022 and LGT art. 19(8). Removed fee and processing-time figures that had no official source.
