Portugal · PT
The Portuguese VAT number
Nine digits that are the company’s tax number, and whose first digit already tells you what kind of entity is on the other side.
Format: PT + 9 digits
Example: PT501413197
Issued by: the Portuguese tax and customs authority.
The format
A Portuguese VAT number is always eleven characters: the prefix and the nine digits of the NIF, with no spaces and no letters.
- PTThe country code.
- 5The first digit: 5 identifies a legal person.
- 0141319Seven sequential digits.
- 7The check digit.
The check digit is computed modulus 11 with weights 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. If the remainder is 0 or 1, the digit is 0.
The first digit classifies the entity: 1, 2 and 3 for individuals, 5 for companies, 6 for public administration bodies, 7 for undivided estates and similar, 8 for sole traders, 9 for irregular legal persons and non-residents.
NIF, NIPC and the registration number
Portugal has already done the simplification: the NIF and the NIPC are the same number. The NIPC — the legal person identification number — is simply what the NIF is called when it belongs to a company, and since the introduction of the "company card" it is also the single number used for social security and the commercial register.
A company incorporated through the Empresa na Hora same-day procedure receives its NIPC immediately, and the VAT number is that NIPC with PT in front. There is nothing to compute.
Having a NIF is not being VAT registered. Every entity has a NIF; only those registered for intra-community transactions appear in VIES. A business exempt under article 53 exists, invoices, and does not validate.
Identifying the company
The tax portal
The tax authority offers a public check that confirms whether a NIF is registered and returns the name. It returns no address and is not meant for bulk querying.
The commercial register
The registries institute provides the certidão permanente online, carrying the full company record — objects, capital, directors, seat. It is paid, per certificate, and there is no open bulk download at all. That is exactly why Portugal has no free source usable at volume.
RCBE
The central register of beneficial ownership publishes some company information tied to the NIPC for free, but it exists for anti-money-laundering purposes and is not a company directory.
VIES
Portugal discloses the name and the address. The postcode comes in the form 4099-002, with a hyphen, and the locality is often repeated — once on its own and again after the postcode.
Portugal-specific pitfalls
- The first digit is not decorative. A number starting 1, 2 or 3 belongs to an individual, not a company.
- NIF and NIPC are the same number. There is no conversion to do between them.
- Having a NIF is not being VAT registered, and the article 53 exemption is common among small businesses.
- The permanent certificate is paid and there is no free bulk download of the commercial register.
- The postcode carries a hyphen and the locality is repeated in the address VIES returns.
One API for 27 member states
Vatlas turns a European VAT number into a company record: legal name, national identifier, legal form, status and address. Same call, same shape, for Portugal and for the other twenty-six.
curl "https://api.vatlas.dev/v1/vat/PT501413197" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $VATLAS_KEY"Response:
200 OK
{
"data": {
"vatNumber": "PT501413197",
"countryCode": "PT",
"nationalNumber": "501413197",
"nationalId": null,
"name": "UNIVERSIDADE DO PORTO",
"legalForm": null,
"status": "active",
"address": {
"line1": "PRAÇA GOMES TEIXEIRA",
"line2": null,
"postalCode": "4099-002",
"city": "PORTO",
"country": "PT"
}
},
"meta": {
"origin": "vies",
"source": "VIES",
"sourceUpdatedAt": "2026-08-28T10:17:07.318Z",
"checked": ["database", "VIES"]
}
}meta.origin says where the answer came from: database for a register imported locally, source for a national API queried live, vies as a last resort. The shape of the response never changes from one country to the next.
Free to try. An email address creates an account — no credit card, no sales call — with 100 requests a month and a working key in about a minute.
Frequently asked
The Portuguese VAT number in short
How many digits does a Portuguese VAT number have?
Nine after the PT prefix — eleven characters in total.
Are the NIF and the NIPC the same thing?
Yes. The NIPC is what the NIF is called when it belongs to a legal person; the number is identical.
What does the first digit mean?
The type of entity: 1 to 3 for individuals, 5 for companies, 6 for public administration, 8 for sole traders, 9 for non-residents and irregular legal persons.
Why does VIES reject a valid NIF?
Almost always because the entity is not registered for intra-community transactions, or is exempt under article 53 of the Portuguese VAT code.
Is there a free file of Portuguese companies?
No. The permanent certificate is paid and the commercial register offers no bulk download.
VAT numbers in other countries
Last updated 28 August 2026.