The customer's tax number (NIF) is invalid or missing

Symptom

• When you save a customer record, a Validation Error opens saying the NIF is not valid, and the record does not save; or
• you issued an invoice to a customer without a NIF and it went out as “Final consumer”; or
• you are going to invoice with an exemption to a customer from another European Union country and do not know whether their VAT number is validated; or
• when you confirm an invoice with 0% EU, Invalid Operation opens saying the customer's VAT number is not validated in VIES or is invalid.

Message

On a new customer with an empty Country and the NIF PT123456788 (Administrative profile):

“The NIF “PT123456788” is not valid. Why: the last digit (check digit) does not match the other eight. How to fix it: Check the number on the ID card or the tax identification document and type it again.”

The message was triggered in the demo database. The record was not saved. With Country Portugal and the NIF typed without PT (123456780), the window and the message are the same.

On an invoice to a customer in Portugal without a NIF, the draft warns, before issuing, that the invoice is treated as issued to a final consumer (the exact warning is in How to issue a certified invoice, “Important notes”). Once issued, the PDF shows “Consumidor final” on the left, below the invoice title and the share capital; the customer block, on the right, only has the name and the country (in the demo, FT D26/33, to “Cliente Sem NIF Exemplo”, with “Portugal”).

Verified causes

• The number has a wrong digit. The last digit of a Portuguese NIF is calculated from the other eight. If it does not match, the NIF does not exist and fiscaldoo does not save the record.
• The customer has no NIF on the record. fiscaldoo issues the invoice and treats it as a sale to a final consumer, for a customer in Portugal and for one in another country (there, the final consumer carries the customer's country). The NIF cannot be added to that invoice afterwards.
• The EU customer's VAT number is not Valid in VIES. An invoice with the intra-community exemption set by hand is refused on confirmation.
• Customer from another EU country. The VAT number is written with the country code in front (for example ESB12345609). For an exempt sale to another EU country, the number must be validated in VIES, the European system that confirms VAT numbers.

What to check

1. The NIF on one of the customer's documents (ID card, certificate, their invoice). Do not type it from memory.
2. On the customer record, the Country: a Portuguese NIF carries PT in front or nothing; a number from another country carries that country's code.
3. Whether the customer asked for an invoice with their NIF. If they did and the invoice went out without the NIF, the invoice needs correcting (below).
4. For a customer from another EU country, the VIES state, which the record shows below the NIF: Not checked, Valid, Invalid or Service unavailable.

How to fix it

The record's NIF is refused (Administrative or Accountant profile)

1. Click Close.
2. In NIF, type the right number and save.

If the record has already been used on issued documents, the NIF can no longer be changed on the record: the Certified accountant corrects it with Audited correction. See I cannot change an invoice already issued.

The invoice went out without the NIF the customer asked for

The issued invoice cannot be changed. It is corrected with a credit note and a new invoice, with Correct the customer data on the invoice: see the case “Customer name, address or NIF” in I cannot change an invoice already issued. Before that, put the NIF on the customer record (or create the right record). Pending validation by a certified accountant: deadline and way to issue the invoice with the NIF when the customer asks for it after the purchase.

Customer from another EU country (Administrative profile)

Open the customer record, check that the NIF has the country code in front and click Validate VIES. What each state shows, what it does to the VAT and what to do with Invalid and with Service unavailable are in How to create a customer with the right tax data, section “Validating the VAT number in VIES: the four states”. If the button answers that the number “does not start with the code of a European Union country”, see “Common problems” in the same article.

The invoice with 0% EU is refused on confirmation

With the customer's VAT number not yet Valid, a line with 0% EU or 0% EU S set by hand (on the line, or through the Intra-comunitário (UE) fiscal position and Recalculate VAT) makes Confirm open the Invalid Operation window, and the draft stays as it was. Before that, the top of the draft already shows a red banner with the same warning. With the VAT number Not checked, the window says (Administrative profile):

“The invoice (not yet numbered) has the intra-community exemption (0 % EU) for the customer "Software Berlin GmbH", but the VAT number has not yet been validated in VIES. The exemption (RITI art. 14.º) requires a valid VAT number of the customer, so the invoice cannot be confirmed. How to fix it: open the customer and click “Validate VIES”, or change the tax. If the certified accountant decides to issue it anyway, ask the Fiscal officer to write the reason in the “Reason to issue without a valid VIES check” field of this invoice; it is recorded in the audit log.”

With Service unavailable, the message is the same, but instead of “but the VAT number has not yet been validated in VIES” it says “but the VIES service was unavailable at the last check”. With Invalid:

“The invoice (not yet numbered) has the intra-community exemption (0 % EU) for the customer "Atelier Lumière SARL", but VIES says the VAT number is invalid. The exemption (RITI art. 14.º) requires a valid VAT number of the customer. How to fix it: correct the VAT number on the customer and click “Validate VIES”, or change the tax.”

In the demo, the refusal was the same with the Administrative, Accountant and Certified accountant profiles (the latter with no reason written). The message says “Fiscal officer”, the name of the access right; in the Profile field, the one who has it is the Certified accountant. The banner for each state is in How to create a customer with the right tax data, section “The exemption set by hand: one banner per state”. For a customer in Portugal or outside the European Union, the message is different: see How to choose the right VAT rate and know which exemption reason is printed, “Common problems”.

There are two more cases in which the invoice with 0% EU is refused, and no reason from the Certified accountant lets it through, because the VAT number never even gets checked in VIES:

• The customer has no Country. “The invoice (not yet numbered) has the intra-community exemption (0 % EU) for the customer Cliente Sem País GmbH, but the customer has no country. Without the country the invoice would be issued without the intra-community fiscal position, without the risk warning and without the intra-EU classification, and the sale could be left out of field 7 of the periodic return and of the recapitulative statement. How to fix it: open the customer, fill in the country (the one of the VAT number's prefix) and, if the VAT number has not yet been validated, click “Validate VIES”; or change the tax.” In the demo, it happened even with the VAT number DE811128135 already Valid in VIES.
• The VAT number has no country code in front. “The invoice (not yet numbered) has the intra-community exemption (0 % EU) for the customer “Cliente DE sem prefixo”, but the VAT number 811128135 has no country code in front, so it cannot be validated in VIES (the exemption, art. 14.º of the RITI, requires a valid VAT number of the customer). How to fix it: open the customer, write the VAT number with the country code in front (for example DE811128135) and click “Validate VIES”; or change the tax. Not even the Fiscal officer's reason lets it through.”

In both cases, correct the customer record (the Country, or the VAT number with the country code) and validate the number in VIES before confirming.

What to do:

1. Click Close.
2. Validate the VAT number on the customer record (previous section). If it becomes Valid, the draft still has the earlier VAT: follow “Draft made before validation” in How to create a customer with the right tax data before confirming.
3. If it does not become Valid, the sale carries Portuguese VAT: click Recalculate VAT, inside the red banner, or replace 0% EU on the line with the Portuguese rate (for example 23%), and confirm. How each way restores the rate is in “To remove the exemption”, in the same article. Talk to the certified accountant before issuing with the exemption.
4. Only if the certified accountant decides to issue with the exemption, with the VAT number Not checked or Service unavailable, does the Certified accountant write the reason on the draft and issue it: the steps are in How to create a customer with the right tax data, section “The Certified accountant's decision”. With the VAT number Invalid, nobody can issue it.

With the VAT number Not checked or Service unavailable, the refusal is a per-company option, which comes switched on (see “The company option” in the same article); do not switch it off without the certified accountant. With the VAT number Invalid, the invoice is always refused.

Check VIES before invoicing with an exemption

For sales of goods, the AT only accepts the exemption with the customer's VAT number valid in VIES (doctrinal ruling 15604): without it, the sale is taxed in Portugal. The exemption also depends on the customer being a taxable person in another Member State, and the burden of proof lies with whoever invoices. Validate the VAT number before the first invoice and do not set the exemption by hand without the certified accountant's decision; if they decide on it, keep the evidence with the invoice. Pending validation by a certified accountant: evidence that the buyer is a taxable person (RITI, art. 14), when it is possible to issue with the exemption without a valid VAT number in VIES (Certified accountant's reason) and what to do with an invoice already issued without a valid VIES check.

Sale to a private individual who does not give a NIF

Leave the NIF empty. The invoice goes out as “Final consumer”, also for a customer in another country (the draft's warning is in How to issue a certified invoice, “Important notes”). At the counter, you can use the simplified invoice: How to sell at the counter.

Expected result

• The customer record saves with the right NIF, and the following invoices go out with that NIF on the PDF and in the SAF-T.
• For a customer from another EU country, the VIES state becomes Valid, with the validation date.

When to contact support

• fiscaldoo refuses a NIF you confirmed on an official document of the customer.
• Validate VIES gives Service unavailable for a long time.
• You need to correct the NIF on many records imported from another program.

Information to send

• The customer's name and country (do not send identity documents).
• The full text of the message, copied from the screen.
• For VIES, the state and date the record shows.
• The profile you logged in with.