The essentials in brief:
- Today it is the same number: whether a form asks for the NIF or the CIF, what goes in is the company NIF, the only tax identifier the rules define for individuals and entities.
- The CIF has an end date: it was created by Decree 2423/1975 and repealed by Royal Decree 1065/2007, in force since 1 January 2008.
- Company format: a letter showing the legal form, a random seven-digit number and a control character.
- Freelancers (autónomos): their NIF is their DNI number with its letter, or their NIE if they do not hold Spanish nationality.
- New company: the NIF is requested with form 036; it is provisional at first and becomes definitive once the deed and the registration are provided.
A new client sends you their supplier form and one of the boxes says “CIF”. If you work as a freelancer, the question comes up straight away, because what you have is a DNI. If you have just set up a limited company, the deed may refer to a NIF while the accountant, the client or the form in front of you still says CIF. CIF and NIF live side by side in the daily routine of any business, but only one of them still exists in law.
The explanation lies in a 2007 regulation that repealed the CIF rules: since 2008 the law no longer refers to a separate code for companies, only to the tax identification number of individuals and entities. Everything else follows from there: what the CIF was exactly, what changed with the NIF, how to read a company number letter by letter and which steps a newly created company follows until it has its definitive NIF.
Are the CIF and the NIF the same?
In practice, yes. When a company gives its “CIF”, it is really giving its NIF, because that is the only tax identifier the rules provide for today. Article 18 of Royal Decree 1065/2007 puts it in general terms: individuals and legal persons shall have a tax identification number for their relations of a tax nature or with tax relevance. There is no separate code reserved for companies.
That is why the question of whether the CIF is the same as the NIF has a short answer: CIF was the name of the old code for entities and NIF is the current term for everyone. Order EHA/451/2008 explains this in its preamble, where it says that the regulation defines the number of legal persons while avoiding any reference to an identification code, as the previous rules did. If a box asks for your company CIF, writing its NIF is enough.
What the CIF was
If you look through invoices or contracts from before 2008, you will find a CIF on them. The Código de Identificación Fiscal was created by Decree 2423/1975 to identify legal persons and entities in general. It was a nine-digit number with a meaning in each segment. According to the preamble of Order EHA/451/2008, the first digit showed the legal form or type of entity, and the code was completed with two digits indicating the province of the registered office, five digits of sequential numbering within each province and a control digit.
That system ended with Royal Decree 1065/2007, which approved the General Regulation on tax management and inspection. Its sole repealing provision expressly abolishes Decree 2423/1975, and the new regulation came into force on 1 January 2008. The current structure of entity numbers came later, with Order EHA/451/2008, in force since 1 July of that same year. So if someone asks what the CIF or NIF on an old invoice is, it is the same piece of data with two names from different periods. And if the question is what applies today, NIF or CIF, there is only one legal answer: the NIF.
The difference between CIF and NIF
The difference between CIF and NIF is mainly one of period and scope. The CIF identified only companies and other entities. The NIF identifies every taxpayer, from a freelancer to a cooperative, with one format for individuals and another for entities. That is why the NIF of a person with a DNI starts with digits and that of a company with a letter. The table sums up what changed in 2008.
| Aspect | CIF (until 2008) | NIF (today) |
|---|---|---|
| Rule | Decree 2423/1975, repealed | Royal Decree 1065/2007 and Order EHA/451/2008 |
| Who it identifies | Legal persons and entities | Individuals, legal persons and entities without legal personality |
| Format for an entity | Legal form, province code, sequential number and control | Legal-form letter, random seven-digit number and control character |
| Province in the number | Yes, that of the registered office at incorporation | No, that information disappears |
| Who assigns it | No longer assigned | The Spanish tax agency (AEAT), within 10 days |
In NIFs assigned in the current format, the digits no longer show the province or the order of registration: that described the CIF. With Order EHA/451/2008, the province information disappears from the number of Spanish entities and the seven digits become a random number. After that change, the difference between NIF and CIF also lies in what the number no longer says about the company.
Worth knowing: the regulation states that the NIF of an entity remains unchanged whatever modifications the entity undergoes, unless its legal form or nationality changes. Moving the registered office within Spain or replacing the directors does not give the company a new number.
What a company NIF looks like
Every invoice you receive from a company carries its NIF, a code of nine characters. Article 2 of Order EHA/451/2008 sets them out like this: a letter showing the legal form, or that the holder is a foreign entity or a permanent establishment; then a random seven-digit number; and finally a control character. A look at the first letter already tells you, for example, whether the business invoicing you is a limited company or a public limited company. The letters N and W, on the other hand, mark a foreign entity and the permanent establishment of a non-resident entity.
Variants of the same legal form share a letter. In its guide to form 036, the tax agency groups the single-member limited company, the employee-owned one, the professional one and the “nueva empresa” under B, and associations, foundations, political parties and trade unions under G. To read any company NIF, this is the current letter table:
| Letter | Type of entity |
|---|---|
| A | Public limited companies (sociedades anónimas) |
| B | Limited liability companies (sociedades de responsabilidad limitada) |
| C | General partnerships |
| D | Limited partnerships |
| E | Joint ownerships (comunidades de bienes), estates in abeyance and other entities without legal personality |
| F | Cooperatives |
| G | Associations (and foundations, per the form 036 guide) |
| H | Owners’ associations of buildings under horizontal property |
| J | Civil partnerships (sociedades civiles) |
| N | Foreign entities |
| P | Local authorities |
| Q | Public bodies |
| R | Religious congregations and institutions |
| S | Bodies of the State administration and of the autonomous communities |
| U | Temporary business associations (UTE) |
| V | Other types not defined in the other keys |
| W | Permanent establishments of entities not resident in Spain |
A freelancer’s NIF
A freelancer (autónomo) does not have a CIF, because that code identified entities, not people. Their tax number is personal. For Spanish nationals, article 19 of the regulation says that the NIF is the number of their national identity document followed by the corresponding verification character, that is, the DNI number with its capital letter.
Without Spanish nationality, the NIF is the foreigner identity number, the NIE, as article 20 provides. In both cases this is the number that must appear on your invoices, since the Invoicing Regulation requires each one to include the tax identification number of the issuer. Registering as self-employed does not change it: as a freelancer, your NIF is the same number already shown on your identity document. There are special cases: a Spanish national living abroad without a DNI can ask the tax agency for a NIF starting with L, and a Spanish national under 14 resident in Spain without a DNI, one starting with K.
How a company gets its NIF
A company must request its NIF before it starts trading. Article 23 of the regulation spells it out: the request comes before any delivery or purchase of goods and services, before collecting or making payments and before hiring staff, and in any case within the month following incorporation. There are four steps to the definitive company NIF.
The company requests its NIF with the census declaration, form 036. The tax agency requires it whether or not the entity carries out activities from day one.
The tax agency assigns the number within 10 days. While it is provisional, the term “EN CONSTITUCIÓN” is automatically added to the company name.
For the number to stop being provisional, a copy of the deed of incorporation, the articles of association and the certificate of registration are provided, within the month following registration.
It is requested with a census declaration of modification. The tax agency also sets a six-month validity for the provisional NIF from its assignment; if the documentation is still missing by then, it can require it.
So the registry’s timeline also sets the timeline for the NIF. The practical move is to send the registered deed to the tax agency as soon as the registry returns it, together with the census declaration of modification: with those two documents the provisional NIF becomes definitive. Joint ownerships, civil partnerships and owners’ associations follow the same route: they also request their NIF with form 036.
Where the company NIF is used
The NIF, or the company CIF as it is still often called, accompanies the company in all its dealings with tax relevance. These are the moments when it comes up most often:
When the company buys from or sells to other EU countries, the NIF-IVA comes into play, and it is not a new number: it is the same NIF with the prefix ES in front, following the country code of the ISO 3166 standard, and it is assigned when the company applies to join the Register of intra-Community operators (ROI). For everything else, the number clients, suppliers and accountants ask for is the national NIF, and it is also the one given when opening a business account.
Your NIF when opening a business account with Vivid
When you apply for a business account, the NIF is one of the details requested. To open an account for freelancers with Vivid, your DNI, your tax identification number and proof of your activity are usually enough. A company states its tax residence with its NIF during registration or within 90 days of opening. Everything is done online, without visiting a branch, and opening usually takes between 10 minutes and 1 hour.
A company still being incorporated has no definitive NIF, so it provides that detail after opening the account. Spanish S.L. and S.A. companies in formation can open the Founder Account, into which the shareholders named in the application can pay the share capital; they have three months from opening that account to submit the official registry extract and, after review, it becomes a General Business Vivid business account. What Vivid Business offers from the free plan:
What Vivid offers at a glance: a business account with a Spanish IBAN for companies and freelancers, applied for online with a valid identity document and your company details. Opening it costs nothing, and the Free Start and Standard plans run at €0 per month.
Your NIF is ready, and so is your account
Open a Vivid business account online with a Spanish IBAN for your company or for your work as a freelancer.
Frequently asked questions
Is the CIF the same as the NIF?
Yes. The CIF was the code for legal persons and entities until 2008. Since Royal Decree 1065/2007 came into force, the rules only speak of the NIF, for companies too, so wherever a form asks for the NIF and the CIF, the same number goes in.
Does a freelancer have a CIF?
No. A freelancer with Spanish nationality uses their DNI number with its verification letter as their NIF, and a foreign one uses their NIE. That number is the one that goes on their invoices and tax returns.
How long does the tax agency take to assign a company NIF?
The regulation sets a period of 10 days for the tax agency to assign the number. At first it is provisional, and it becomes definitive when the company provides the deed, the articles of association and the certificate of its registration.
Can a company NIF change?
Only if its legal form or nationality changes. Outside those two cases, the NIF assigned to an entity stays the same even when other company details change.
What does the letter B in a NIF mean?
That the entity is a limited liability company. The form 036 guide includes the single-member, employee-owned, professional and “nueva empresa” limited companies under that letter. The letter A stands for public limited companies.
What is the NIF-IVA?
It is the number a company uses to identify itself in transactions within the European Union. It is made up of its NIF with the prefix ES in front, following the ISO 3166 country code, and it is assigned when the company applies to join the Register of intra-Community operators.
Where does a company request its NIF?
From the Spanish tax agency, with the census declaration form 036. It is filed before trading starts and, in any case, within the month following the company’s incorporation.
This article provides general information and does not constitute tax or legal advice. The rules cited come from Royal Decree 1065/2007, Order EHA/451/2008, Royal Decree 1619/2012 and the Spanish tax agency, and may change. Vivid Money S.A. is an e-money institution authorised by the CSSF (Luxembourg); its branch in Spain is registered with the Banco de España under number 6731.
