Spanish VAT number (NIF-IVA): registering in the Register of Intra-Community Operators (ROI) with modelo 036
To make intra-Community supplies of goods or intra-Community acquisitions of goods subject to VAT, to receive services from non-established suppliers for which it accounts for the VAT, or to supply services located in another Member State where the customer accounts for the VAT (unless they are only exempt services), a business established in the Spanish VAT territory (mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands) needs a VAT number (NIF-IVA): its NIF with the ES prefix. It is obtained by registering in the Register of Intra-Community Operators (ROI) with modelo 036, ticking box 582 and entering in box 584 the expected date of the first transaction. If the Tax Agency has not decided within three months, the request may be deemed refused.
Up to date for 2026 — verified on October 3, 2026ActioFin templateGuide: about 20 min
This content is part of the path: Selling to other EU countries from Spain· Step 3 of 6· Next step: Modelo 303: Spanish VAT self-assessment
Deadlines
- Before the first intra-Community transaction
- The application for ROI registration must be filed before the transactions that require it take place (article 10.4.d of Royal Decree 1065/2007): modelo 036 with box 582 ticked and the expected date of the first transaction in box 584
- Three-month time limit
- If the Tax Agency has not decided, the assignment of the VAT number may be deemed refused
- After 12 months without intra-Community transactions
- Mandatory deregistration from the ROI, within one month, with an amending modelo 036 (box 583, date of the request in box 584); the services in paragraphs c) and d) of article 3.3 of Royal Decree 1065/2007 also count. The same applies if you stop the activities subject to VAT without leaving the census
Documents to prepare
- NIF of the business owner or company
- Expected date of the first intra-Community transaction
- VAT number of the customer or supplier in another Member State, to check it in VIES
- Electronic certificate or electronic ID card for the electronic office
No form is attached to this procedure: the link leads to the official page that describes it.
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ALTA EN EL REGISTRO DE OPERADORES INTRACOMUNITARIOS — HOJA DE PREPARACIÓN (NO ES EL MODELO 036)
Esta hoja no es el modelo 036 ni una inscripción en el Registro de Operadores Intracomunitarios (ROI): no se presenta, no se firma y no le da de alta en ningún registro. La inclusión en el ROI se solicita con la declaración censal de alta o de modificación, modelo 036, que se cumplimenta y presenta en la sede electrónica de la Agencia Tributaria.
Solicitante: … — NIF ….
Solicitante
Tipo de solicitante: empresario o profesional.
Operaciones intracomunitarias previstas
No ha indicado ninguna de las operaciones que obligan a obtener el NIF-IVA. Antes de presentar el modelo 036, compruébelo con el «Localizador de entregas de bienes» y el «Localizador de prestación de servicios» de la sede.
Modelo 036
Declaración que presentará: declaración censal de alta, modelo 036, que incluye la solicitud de inclusión en el ROI (artículo 9.3.g del Real Decreto 1065/2007).
Casilla 582: márquela para solicitar el alta en el ROI.
Casilla 584: fecha prevista para la primera operación intracomunitaria, ….
La declaración de alta se presenta, según los casos, antes del inicio de las actividades o antes de realizar las operaciones (artículo 9.4 del Real Decreto 1065/2007).
Después de la solicitud
Su NIF-IVA será su NIF precedido del prefijo ES. No se asigna de oficio: se asigna cuando usted solicita la inclusión en el ROI.
Si la Agencia Tributaria no ha resuelto en un plazo de tres meses, podrá considerarse denegada la asignación del número solicitado. También puede denegarla en los supuestos de los artículos 24.1 y 146.1.b) del Real Decreto 1065/2007.
Baja en el ROI
Si durante 12 meses no realiza entregas ni adquisiciones intracomunitarias de bienes sujetas al IVA, ni presta o recibe los servicios de los párrafos c) y d) del artículo 3.3 del Real Decreto 1065/2007, o si cesa en las actividades sujetas al IVA sin darse de baja en el censo, debe pedir la baja en el ROI con un modelo 036 de modificación, en el plazo de un mes: casilla 583 marcada y fecha de la solicitud en la casilla 584.
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Who this applies to
- Businesses making intra-Community supplies or acquisitions of goods subject to VAT, even if the goods acquired are used in business or professional activities abroad
- Businesses receiving services from suppliers not established in the Spanish VAT territory for which they account for the VAT
- Businesses supplying services that, under the place-of-supply rules, are deemed to take place in another Member State where the customer accounts for the VAT; not if they only supply or receive exempt services
- Legal persons not acting as businesses, when their intra-Community acquisitions of goods are subject to VAT
Worked example
Cerámicas Alba SL, from Castellón, is about to sell to a distributor in France
Cerámicas Alba SL has only sold in Spain and has no VAT number. A French distributor orders tiles and gives it its VAT number, which Cerámicas Alba checks in VIES from the electronic office, with its electronic certificate. To invoice the supply as an exempt intra-Community supply it files, before the first shipment, an amending modelo 036: it ticks box 582 and enters in box 584 the expected date of the first shipment. Once registered, its VAT number is its NIF with the ES prefix, and it will report the sale in modelo 349. If the Tax Agency had not decided within three months, the assignment could be deemed refused.
How to fill it in, step by step
- Check whether your transaction requires a VAT number: intra-Community supplies or acquisitions of goods, services received from non-established suppliers for which you account for the VAT, or services supplied that are located in another Member State with the customer accounting for the VAT. The electronic office provides locators for supplies of goods and of services.
- File the registration or amending modelo 036, ticking box 582 to apply for registration in the Register of Intra-Community Operators.
- Enter in box 584 the expected date of the first intra-Community transaction.
- Wait for the decision: your VAT number will be your NIF preceded by the ES prefix; if there is no decision within three months, it may be deemed refused.
- Before invoicing an intra-Community supply without VAT, you can check your customer's VAT number from another Member State in VIES, with an electronic certificate or electronic ID card.
- Report your intra-Community transactions in modelo 349 and, if 12 months pass without any, apply for deregistration from the ROI within one month with an amending modelo 036 (box 583, date in box 584).
The form, line by line
- Box 582
- Application for registration in the Register of Intra-Community Operators, in the registration or amending census return (modelo 036).
- Box 583
- Application for deregistration from the Register of Intra-Community Operators.
- Box 584
- On registration, the expected date of the first intra-Community transaction; on deregistration, the date of the request.
Good to know
- The VAT number is the Spanish NIF with the ES prefix, under the ISO-3166 code; the Register of Intra-Community Operators is part of the Census of Businesses, Professionals and Withholding Agents.
- Legal persons that are not businesses must deregister from the ROI within one month when their intra-Community acquisitions cease to be taxable (article 11 of Royal Decree 1065/2007, read with article 14 of the VAT Act); their VAT number is then revoked automatically.
- No VAT number is assigned (article 25.3 of Royal Decree 1065/2007) to those who carry out exclusively transactions that give no right to deduct the tax, or exclusively activities under the special scheme for agriculture, livestock and fishing, nor to legal persons not acting as businesses, where their intra-Community acquisitions of goods are not subject to VAT under article 14 of the VAT Act; nor to those persons, or to anyone not acting as a business, for acquiring new means of transport; nor, among the other cases of that paragraph, to certain businesses not established in the territory where Spanish VAT applies.
- The Tax Agency may refuse the assignment in the cases of articles 24.1 and 146.1.b) of the General Regulation on Tax Management and Inspection Procedures.
- If you identify yourself with your own VAT number when querying VIES, the reply lets you prove to another Member State's tax administration that you checked a number on a given date with a given result.
- The intra-Community supply exemption only applies if the customer has given you a valid VAT number from another Member State and you report the transaction in modelo 349; otherwise the supply is subject to and not exempt from Spanish VAT.
- These are not the only conditions: the goods must be dispatched or transported to the territory of another Member State, and the exemption does not apply if the customer's acquisitions are not taxed at destination (article 14) or to supplies under the special scheme for second-hand goods (article 25 of the VAT Act).
- A supplier from another Member State under the small-business franchise scheme has no VAT number and charges no VAT; that scheme does not exist in Spanish legislation, and the purchase is not settled as an intra-Community acquisition in Spain.
- To register in another Member State, the electronic office refers to the European Commission's 'Vademecum on VAT obligations', available in English only.
Common mistakes
- Invoicing a supply to a customer in another Member State without VAT without checking their VAT number: if it is not valid, the supply is subject to and not exempt from Spanish VAT.
- Waiting for a VAT number without having applied for it: it is not assigned automatically, it is requested with modelo 036 by ticking box 582.
- Believing that exempt services supplied in other Member States or received in mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands require a VAT number: if those are your only services, there is no obligation to obtain it or to report them in modelo 349.
- Remaining registered in the ROI after 12 months without intra-Community transactions: deregistration must then be requested with an amending modelo 036.
Frequently asked questions
How is the VAT number (NIF-IVA) requested?
By applying for inclusion in the Register of Intra-Community Operators: a registration or amending census return, modelo 036, ticking registration in that register (box 582) and entering the expected date of the first transaction (box 584).
What is my VAT number?
Your Spanish NIF preceded by the ES prefix.
What happens if the Tax Agency does not decide?
If it has not decided within three months, the assignment of the requested number may be deemed refused.
How do I check the VAT number of a customer in another EU country?
In VIES, from the featured procedures on the electronic office page on identification for trading with other EU businesses; an electronic certificate or electronic ID card is required.
How do I deregister from the ROI?
With an amending census return, modelo 036, applying for deregistration (box 583) and entering the date of the request (box 584).
Go further
Understand this form: the related course
Official sources
- Spanish Tax Agency — Identification for trading with other businesses in the EU: ROI, VIES, NIF-IVA and NVAT (obliged persons l. 10-14, locators l. 15, modelo 036 boxes 582 and 584 l. 16-18, three months l. 19, NVAT l. 20, VIES l. 21-23, exemption l. 24, franchise l. 25) — October 3, 2026
- Spanish Tax Agency — Practical guide to census modelo 036, chapter 6, Register of intra-Community operators (composition and boxes 582 and 584 l. 15-20, deregistration box 583 l. 21, ES prefix l. 29, refusal and three months l. 30, recipients of the VAT number l. 31-35) — October 3, 2026
- Spanish Tax Agency — FAQ on modelos 036 and 037, ROI registration or deregistration (how the VAT number is requested l. 31-32, deregistration l. 33-34) — October 3, 2026
- BOE — Royal Decree 1065/2007, General Regulation on Tax Management and Inspection Procedures, consolidated text (cases for the ROI, article 3.3 l. 756-762; application before the transactions, articles 9.4 l. 914 and 10.4.d) l. 992; mandatory ROI deregistration after 12 months without transactions, article 10.2.e) l. 965-966, within one month, article 10.4 l. 988; deregistration of non-business legal persons, article 11.1 and 11.2 l. 1034-1035; ES prefix, refusal and three months, article 25.1 l. 1217-1218; who is and who is not assigned a VAT number, article 25.2 and 25.3 l. 1219-1229) — October 5, 2026
- BOE — VAT Act 37/1992, consolidated text, art. 25 (exemption of intra-Community supplies: transport to another Member State and VAT number given l. 1559, inclusion in the recapitulative statement of intra-Community transactions under article 164.uno.5.º l. 1560 —modelo 349, according to the Tax Agency page l. 24—, exclusions under article 14 and the second-hand goods scheme l. 1561-1562) — October 5, 2026
This topic in other countries
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