NIE - Fiscal Identity Number

To be appointed as a director or shareholder of a Spanish company, you will require a Spanish identification number.

• For a person, this is a personal tax number, referred to as a NIE
• For a company, this is a company tax number, referred to as a CIF

NIE - Numero de Identificación Extranjeros

NIE is a tax identification number which identifies directors of Spanish companies to the Spanish tax authorities.

The application for the NIE can be completed

• In Spain at a National Police Station
• In your home country at the Spanish consulate
• By ourselves on your behalf with a power of attorney

We can take you through the NIE application process and make the application on your behalf. We expect to obtain your number within 3 weeks.

CIF - Código de Identificación Fiscal - Identity number for companies

The CIF is a unitary number for all company taxes. We obtain your CIF number from the tax office with your incorporation certificate and a sworn statement together with the NIE documents of the directors. The Spanish tax office issues a Identificación Fiscal certificate that contains your company CIF number.

We will present the following to the tax authorities:

• A sworn statement stating that the company requires a CIF number
• A certificate stating that the company is incorporated
• Original articles or statutes of the foreign company
• An authorised translation of the statutes of the foreign company

Provisional CIF tax number

When the share capital is issued for cash, the provisional tax number is usually applied for after the statutes are notarised, and before the statutes are filed at the Registro Mercantil. This is done by presenting the signed statutes of incorporation to the tax authorities.

NIE number and residency

Your NIE number is required for most official documents, but is not to be confused with residency; most people need the NIE number before applying for residency.

To apply for permanent residency, you typically need to come to Spain on a temporary visa, and then submit, typically, the following documents to the Police:

• Your passport
• Documents with information about your marriage
• A completed application form
• Proof of residence: such as a property rental contract
• A medical certificate
• A certificate stating that you have no criminal record in your country of origin