Documentation to be submitted

The documentation to be provided will depend on the legal form or type of entity involved.

As a general rule, the RGAT indicates that a copy of the public deed or reliable document of incorporation and the bylaws or equivalent document must be provided, as well as certification of its registration, where applicable, in a public registry.

In the event that all this documentation is not provided, the NIF that is assigned will be provisional and the entity will be obliged to provide the pending documentation necessary for the assignment of the definitive tax identification number within one month from registration in the corresponding registry or from the granting of the public deeds or reliable documents of its incorporation and the bylaws or equivalent documents of its incorporation, when the registration of the same in the corresponding registry is not necessary.

 Once the aforementioned period has elapsed without the pending documentation having been submitted, the tax authorities may require its submission, granting a maximum period of 10 days, counted from the day following notification of the requirement, for its presentation or to justify the reasons that prevent it, with the interested party indicating in such case the period necessary for its definitive submission. Failure to respond in a timely manner to the request for the provision of pending documentation may result, after hearing the interested party, in the revocation of the assigned identification number, in accordance with the terms referred to in article 147 of the RGAT.

In the specific case of foreign legal persons or entities, to which, as already stated, a NIF N is assigned, a document proving the existence of the person or entity must be provided. This document may be the articles of incorporation in your country and bylaws registered in an official registry in your country or a certification from a notary or tax authority accrediting its existence.

Likewise, a photocopy of the card or document proving the tax identification number, assigned by the Spanish Administration, of the person who signs Form 036 must be attached to Form 036 or, if they are not required to have a NIF, a photocopy of the document proving their identity, if applicable. A copy of the document proving that the person signing the form has sufficient power to do so must also be provided.

The documentation that must be provided in the case of permanent establishments to obtain a NIF is that which justifies the existence of the establishment, as well as the existence of the non-resident entity itself.

According to article 13.1 of Royal Legislative Decree 5/2004, of March 5, approving the revised text of the Non-Resident Income Tax Law, a non-resident person or entity is deemed to carry out operations through a permanent establishment when, for any reason, it has, on a continuous or habitual basis, facilities or workplaces of any kind, in which it carries out all or part of its activity, or acts in Spain through an agent authorised to contract, in the name and on behalf of the non-resident person or entity, who habitually exercises such powers. Therefore, when requesting the assignment of a NIF for a permanent establishment, documentation proving the existence of the establishment in accordance with this definition must be provided. In the particular case of permanent establishments that are branches, a public deed of incorporation must be provided as well as certification of its registration in the corresponding public registry.

The documentation justifying the existence of the establishment must be accompanied by that proving the appointment of a representative residing in Spain, as well as a document proving the NIF of said representative, if applicable.

In any case, if the documents provided are not issued in Spain, for the purposes of their validity and effectiveness before the Spanish public administration and in accordance with articles 15 and 28 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, they must be translated into Spanish and their authenticity must be proven.

In this regard, section 5 of article 24 of the RGAT provides that the tax authorities may require a translation into Spanish or another official language in Spain of the documentation provided for the assignment of the tax identification number when it is written in a non-official language.

To do so, a certified copy must be provided, through diplomatic legalization or through the Hague apostille, and an official translation, if applicable, carried out by a sworn translator or through consular or diplomatic representations.

Note: The Hague Apostille, regulated by the Hague Convention of 1961, exempts signatory States from the requirement of diplomatic and consular legalization of public documents originating in their country and intended to take effect in another country.

Therefore, in the case of a document originating in a country that is not a signatory to the Hague Convention, for it to take effect in Spain, diplomatic or consular agents of the country of origin of the document must certify the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the signatory of the document acted and, where applicable, the identity of the seal or stamp that the document bears.

More information about the Hague Apostille can be found on the website of the Ministry of Justice .

Below is the documentation that must be provided by the different types of legal persons and entities without legal personality (the most common legal forms are included) to obtain the definitive NIF.