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ROI, VIES and EU VAT numbers

Spanish intra-community VAT number: ROI registration step by step

Reviewed on 10 min readConsult GlobalLex team

You apply for registration in Spain's Intra-Community Operators Register (Registro de Operadores Intracomunitarios, ROI) by filing Form 036 (modelo 036), ticking box 582 and entering the expected date of your first intra-community transaction in box 584. The Spanish tax authority (AEAT) has three months to decide and, if it does not, the application may be treated as refused. The outcome is your VAT number with the ES prefix, which should show as valid in VIES.

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The problem

If you sell goods to businesses in other EU Member States, buy from EU suppliers, or receive services from a provider not established in Spain under the reverse charge (inversión del sujeto pasivo), you need to be listed in the ROI. It is a tax register kept by the AEAT, part of its Census of Businesses (Censo de Empresarios), and its outcome is the intra-community VAT number (NIF-IVA): your Spanish tax ID with the prefix ES. It has nothing to do with property or with return on investment.

The practical problem is that without a valid VAT number on the buyer's side, an intra-community supply cannot be exempt. Under article 25 of the VAT Act (LIVA), if the buyer's valid VAT number is missing, or the transaction is not included in Form 349 (modelo 349, the EU recapitulative statement), the supply is taxable and not exempt in Spain. The EU VAT number of a trading partner is checked in VIES, the European register of VAT numbers.

Many marketplace sellers discover the obligation through fees. A Spanish company based on the Spanish peninsula that receives commission invoices from a provider established in another Member State self-assesses the VAT under the reverse charge, and that requires registration in the ROI under article 3.3 of the Regulation on tax procedures (RGAT). It is best to deal with this before the first invoice or the first intra-community sale arrives. Our guide on marketplace fees and the reverse charge in the Spanish VAT return covers the return itself.

One important warning if your company is based in the Canary Islands: the ROI is for businesses established on the peninsula and the Balearic Islands, because the Canary Islands are a third territory for VAT purposes. A Canarian company that receives commissions from a European marketplace does not need the ROI for them. It self-assesses IGIC (the Canary Islands indirect tax) under the reverse charge on Form 420 (modelo 420), filed with the Canary Islands Tax Agency (ATC), and there is no Form 349.

Who is affected

  • Companies and self-employed people established on the peninsula or in the Balearic Islands that make intra-community supplies or acquisitions of goods subject to VAT.
  • Marketplace sellers based on the Spanish peninsula who receive services from platforms in other Member States under the reverse charge.
  • Businesses providing services located in another Member State where the customer accounts for the tax.
  • Foreign entrepreneurs setting up a company in Spain who will trade with the EU from the peninsula or the Balearic Islands.
  • Companies based in the Canary Islands that are considering the ROI: before applying, you must identify which operation under article 25.2 of the RGAT they will carry out in the VAT territory, because if there is none the registration is not appropriate.

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Step by step

  1. Confirm that your activity requires ROI registration

    Article 25.2 of the RGAT and article 3.3 define who belongs in the register: businesses that make taxable intra-community supplies or acquisitions, receive services from non-established providers under the reverse charge, or provide services located in another Member State where the customer accounts for the VAT. If your activity fits none of these cases, the application has no basis.

    If you are based in the Canary Islands, stop here: the AEAT page on identification for EU transactions limits the ROI to businesses established in the VAT territory. And if what you sell to consumers in other countries is distance sales, a different regime applies; see our guide on the EU distance selling threshold of 10,000 euro and the OSS.

  2. Make your census position and paperwork consistent

    The AEAT may refuse registration when the data are not truthful, after a hearing of 10 days, or when the tax ID is provisional and no deed of incorporation, articles of association or registration has been provided (articles 24.1 and 146.1.b of the RGAT). So before you file anything, check that the registered address, the declared activity and the other company details match in every document. The official list of specific documents for registration is not stated in the sources we rely on, so check it on the AEAT website on the day you file.

    In practice it helps to prepare a short business plan explaining the activity, the flow of transactions, your EU trading partners with their VAT numbers checked in VIES, and the real resources you have. It is not a written requirement of the rules, but it organises the file and helps if the AEAT asks for clarification. Also as a matter of practice, and not as a legal obligation, we avoid describing the activity as mere intermediation when the company actually buys and sells goods.

  3. File Form 036 with the ROI boxes

    Registration is requested on Form 036 (modelo 036, the census form). Tick box 582 (application for registration in the ROI) and enter in box 584 the expected date of the first transaction, as set out in the AEAT practical guide to completing Form 036. Before sending, check that the expected date is realistic and that the activity heading reflects what you will actually do.

    Keep the filing receipt: it is your proof of when the decision period began.

  4. Answer any request or hearing within the deadline

    If the AEAT has doubts about the truthfulness of your data, it will give you a hearing of 10 days before refusing. A request for information is not a bad sign in itself, but you must answer it completely and on time, with documents that are consistent with each other.

    If you receive an electronic notification, open it as soon as possible. Check the deadline stated in the notification itself and do not assume that an unopened notice stops the clock.

  5. Wait for the decision and check the result

    The AEAT has three months to decide. If they pass without a reply, the application may be treated as refused: silence means refusal, not approval (article 25.1 of the RGAT). Do not assume you are registered just because nobody has answered.

    Once registration is granted, check that your VAT number with the ES prefix shows as valid in VIES. You can then request the tax certificate of intra-community operator (certificado tributario de operador intracomunitario) through procedure G312, which is issued within 20 days.

  6. Keep your registration up to date and watch for deregistration

    Being in the ROI carries obligations: if you carry out intra-community transactions, you will have to file Form 349 in the periods that apply to it. And if you make no intra-community transactions for 12 months, deregistration at your own request is mandatory (article 10.2 of the RGAT); you request it on Form 036 using box 583. The AEAT can also deregister you of its own motion, for example if it has been unable to notify you for more than a year after three attempts.

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Deadlines

Decision on the ROI registration application (silence means refusal)
3 months; if they pass without a decision, the application may be treated as refused · source
Hearing before refusal for untruthful data
10 days · source
Issue of the tax certificate of intra-community operator (procedure G312)
20 days; if you disagree with its content, 10 days · source
Deregistration at your request when there are no intra-community transactions
Mandatory if 12 months pass without intra-community transactions · source
Formal check of the ROI started by the AEAT of its own motion
Maximum 6 months; reconsideration appeal or economic-administrative claim within 1 month · source

Common mistakes

Applying for the ROI from a company based in the Canary Islands without identifying an operation in the VAT territory

The Canary Islands are a third territory for VAT and the ROI is for businesses established on the peninsula and in the Balearic Islands. Commissions from a European marketplace to a Canarian company go through the IGIC reverse charge on Form 420, with no ROI and no Form 349. It only makes sense to apply if the company will carry out an operation under article 25.2 of the RGAT in the VAT territory.

Reading the AEAT's silence as approval

After three months without a decision, the application may be treated as refused. Note the filing date, follow the case actively and, if a presumed refusal arrives, consider an appeal within the time limit.

Filing Form 036 with data that do not match each other

Untruthful data is one of the two grounds for refusal named in the RGAT. Check that the address, the incorporation and census registration dates, and the activity are the same in the deed, the Commercial Registry, Form 036 and any business plan you submit.

Assuming your VAT number is active without checking VIES

Query VIES with your own VAT number before invoicing EU customers. The VIES reply serves as evidence before the tax authorities, and without a valid VAT number on the buyer's side the supply is not exempt.

Lodging a complaint with the Taxpayer Defence Council before the decision period has expired

Royal Decree 1676/2009 rejects complaints about procedures subject to a time limit when they are made before that limit expires, except those reporting how the administration is functioning in them. If you want to complain about unanswered correspondence, frame it as such, or wait until the period has expired.

Forgetting to deregister when intra-community activity stops

If 12 months pass without intra-community transactions, deregistration is mandatory. Each year, review whether you are still trading with the EU.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the ROI, the VAT number and VIES?

The ROI is the AEAT register you join once your application is granted. The VAT number is the result: your Spanish tax ID with the prefix ES. VIES is the European register where any EU customer or supplier can check that the number is valid.

Can I sell to consumers in the EU without being in the ROI?

Distance sales to private individuals fall under a different regime, the one-stop shop, which you activate with Form 035 (modelo 035) and settle with Form 369 (modelo 369). The ROI deals with transactions between businesses and with the reverse charge. They are separate procedures and can coexist.

What happens if the AEAT refuses my registration?

Before appealing, check which ground the refusal relies on and whether you can correct or prove the data. Check the appeal routes and the time limit stated in the decision itself, because they depend on the type of decision.

Do I need the certificate of intra-community operator?

It is a document you can request through procedure G312, and it is issued within 20 days. It is not a compulsory step of the registration. Whether you need it depends on whether a counterparty or platform asks you for it, which is worth checking with them.

Does being in the ROI oblige me to file Form 349?

Yes, if you carry out intra-community transactions that must be included in it. It is filed monthly, or quarterly if neither in the quarter nor in the previous four are intra-community supplies and services above 50,000 euro. If your activity is purely Canarian, there is no Form 349 for those operations.

Where do I file IGIC returns if my company is Canarian?

Forms 420 and 425 (modelos 420 and 425) are filed with the Canary Islands Tax Agency, not with the AEAT, and a Canarian company does not file Form 303 or Form 390 for its operations in the Canary Islands. Deadlines and direct debit details are on the ATC page for Form 420.

Official sources

Consult GlobalLex team

Tax, accounting and legal advisers for Amazon and marketplace sellers, foreign founders and Canary Islands companies in Spain. Registered social collaborator of the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) and Social Security (TGSS).

Drafted with AI assistance and checked, fact by fact, against the official sources cited. Reviewed on 9 October 2026.

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