Get your NIF, the Portuguese tax number

Do you already have one?

If you are Portuguese and have a Cartão de Cidadão, your NIF was given to you automatically. You don't need to ask for anything.

Everyone else has to ask for one. Any foreign person can, living in Portugal or not.

Ask in person, by appointment

You ask at any Serviço de Finanças, a tax office, or Loja do Cidadão, a citizen shop. You need an appointment first.

Book it on the contacts page of Portal das Finanças, without signing in, or by phone:

A request can also be sent online, through the e-balcão of Portal das Finanças. The tax authority's leaflet describes that route for a legal representative who handles the request for you.

What to bring

To register as a non-resident, with your address abroad, bring:

• Your identity document or a valid passport
• A document that shows your address abroad, unless your identity document already shows it

Bring originals or certified copies. A document in a foreign language needs a certified translation.

To register as a resident straight away, gov.pt asks for more:

• From a European Union country: your identity document and the EU citizen registration certificate (certificado de registo de cidadão da UE), which you ask for at the câmara municipal, the town hall
• From a country outside the European Union: your identity document or your passport, and a valid residence permit (título de residência)

Do you need a tax representative?

Not to get the number. The tax authority's leaflet says that naming a tax representative is not mandatory when a NIF is given to a non-resident.

That changes when you have what the leaflet calls a tax relationship in Portugal. Its examples:

• Signing a work contract for a job in Portugal
• Working for yourself
• Owning a vehicle registered in Portugal
• Owning property in Portugal

From that moment you have 15 days to name a tax representative in Portugal or, instead, to sign up for electronic notifications: the notification system on Portal das Finanças, or ViaCTT.

If you live in a country of the European Union, in Norway, in Iceland or in Liechtenstein, both are optional.

When you become a resident

You count as a resident once you have stayed in Portugal for more than 183 days, in a row or not, in any period of 12 months. Or sooner, if you have a home here that you mean to keep as your usual residence.

You then have 60 days to tell Finanças: on Portal das Finanças, through the e-balcão, or in person by appointment.

• From the European Union: your identity document and the EU citizen registration certificate
• From outside the European Union: your identity document or your passport, and a residence permit that is valid on the day you ask

Cost and help

gov.pt says the request is free for people with a Cartão de Cidadão and can have costs in other cases, for example when it is made through a tax representative. The tax authority's leaflet names no fee.

Need help? gov.pt's page explains how to book a support video call or contact Linha Cidadão.