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Portugal

Check Portugal VAT numbers

Validate Portuguese VAT numbers (NIF) against the EU VIES registry. Portuguese numbers are PT followed by 9 digits. The NIF also doubles as the Número de Identificação de Pessoa Coletiva for legal entities and is required on all invoices above the de minimis threshold. Every response includes the company name, registered address, and validity at query time.

EU member stateNIF — Imposto sobre o Valor AcrescentadoEUR

Try it

curl -X POST "https://api.vatverify.dev/v1/validate" \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VATVERIFY_KEY" \  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \  -d '{"vat_number":"PT500153000"}'
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Facts

Format

Prefix
PT
Digits
9
Regex
^PT\d{9}$
ValidPT500153000
Bad checksumPT500153001
Bad formatPT50015300

Registry

VIES powers /v1/validate for Portugal.

Official registry Live status →

VAT rates (EUR)

23%
Standard
13%
Reduced

wines, admission to shows, certain catering services

6%
Reduced

food staples, medicines, books, newspapers, passenger transport

What we return for Portugal

{
  "data": {
    "valid": true,                       // boolean validity at query time
    "vat_number": "DE129273398",
    "country": {
      "code": "DE",
      "name": "Germany",
      "vat": { "standard_rate": 19 }
    },
    "company": {
      "name": "SIEMENS AG",              // legal entity name
      "address": "..."                    // when VIES provides it
    },
    "verified_at": "2026-04-25T10:00:00Z"
  },
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "019dc...",            // for audit trail correlation
    "source": "vies",
    "source_status": "live",             // live | cached | degraded
    "cached": false,
    "latency_ms": 234
  }
}

Test against production VATs

Real numbers from publicly-documented corporate filings. Click to see the live result.

Watch out for

  • Portuguese VAT rates differ by region: mainland 23%, Azores 16%, Madeira 22%. The PT-prefix number is the same regardless of region.
  • The NIF is required on all Portuguese invoices above the de minimis threshold (currently 1,000 EUR for simplified invoices). Omitting it voids the invoice for VAT deduction.
  • NIPC is the subset of NIF for legal entities; for EU VAT validation, both map identically to PT + 9 digits in VIES.

NIF is the Portuguese tax identifier

Portuguese VAT numbers are 9 digits prefixed with PT. The underlying identifier is the Número de Identificação Fiscal (NIF), issued by the Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira (AT, the Portuguese tax authority).

NIF is one identifier serving multiple purposes. The same number is used for income tax, VAT, and general tax administration. A Portuguese business has one NIF; whether the entity is VAT-registered (sujeito passivo de IVA) is a flag on the AT record.

vatverify validates the structural form (PT followed by 9 digits) before the VIES call. The NIF carries a check digit on the last position, verifiable offline.

NIF leading-digit semantics

The first digit of a Portuguese NIF encodes the entity type. Broadly:

  • 1, 2, 3: individuals
  • 5: legal persons (commercial companies)
  • 6: public administration
  • 8: empresários em nome individual (sole traders, VAT-registered)
  • 9: provisional or special-category NIFs

For VIES purposes, the leading digit is informative but not load-bearing; what matters is whether the entity is VAT-registered. A leading 1, 2, or 3 (individuals) generally appears in VIES only when the person operates as a VAT-registered freelancer.

VAT rates by region

Portugal runs three rates that vary by region:

  • Mainland: 23% standard, 13% intermediate, 6% reduced.
  • Madeira: 22% standard, 12% intermediate, 5% reduced.
  • Azores: 16% standard, 9% intermediate, 4% reduced.

The applicable matrix depends on where the supply is rendered, not where the seller is established. For invoice generation systems serving Portuguese counterparties, the regional matrix is one of the load-bearing pieces of state. A mainland seller delivering to a Madeira customer applies Madeira rates on the supply.

vatverify's /v1/decide returns the applicable rate for a given seller-buyer pair when you only need the answer for one transaction. For invoicing systems, the full per-region rate matrix needs to be maintained locally.

Madeira and Azores tax-residence flag

A Portuguese NIF is the same format whether the holder is on the mainland or on the islands. The regional applicable rate is determined by the registered business address, not the NIF itself.

The data.company.address field is what tells you which rate matrix applies. For tax engines this is one of the load-bearing fields on the VIES response, alongside the valid flag.

Reverse-charge for construction

Portugal applies domestic reverse-charge to construction services between two Portuguese VAT-registered businesses, mirroring rules applied in several other member states. The supplier issues an invoice without VAT and the recipient self-accounts. This is independent of EU intra-Community reverse-charge.

SAF-T and structured invoicing

Portugal requires VAT-registered businesses to maintain SAF-T (PT) files and submit them to AT on a defined cadence. The SAF-T format is structured XML capturing invoice data, customer master data, and accounting entries.

For non-Portuguese sellers invoicing Portuguese buyers, the SAF-T obligation typically falls on the buyer for self-billed reverse-charge; the seller still needs to validate the buyer's NIF through VIES before zero-rating.

Caching against the AT cycle

AT pushes registration changes to VIES on a regular batch. Newly-registered Portuguese NIFs are generally visible in VIES within 24 to 48 hours. vatverify's default TTLs (30 days for valid, 24 hours for invalid) line up with this cadence.

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Automate Portugal VAT checks in your stack

Replace manual lookups with one API call against VIES. Drops into invoicing, checkout, and signup flows in any language. 500 free validations per month, no credit card.

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