Why a Portuguese NIF is shown as invalid in VIES

How registration works in Portugal

Portuguese taxable persons declare intra-Community transactions in their registration or change-of-activity return (Article 31 and Article 32 of the VAT Code), filed on the Portal das Finanças, usually by their certified accountant. Once processed, the number answers as valid in VIES, with name and address.

What it means for you

• Goods: the exemption for intra-Community supplies requires the customer to be identified for VAT in another Member State and to have given you that number (Article 138 of the VAT Directive; in Portugal, RITI Article 14). Without a valid number, the exemption is at risk.
• B2B services: the general rule (Article 44 of the VAT Directive) taxes services in the customer's country when the customer is a taxable person. A valid VAT number is the standard evidence of that status (Article 18 of Implementing Regulation 282/2011).

Before you conclude

• Check the number again: «Member State unavailable» is not the same as «invalid».
• Confirm the digits with your customer — the check digit catches most typos.
• Keep the report of the negative check: it documents what VIES answered and when.