NIF, CIF and NIE get muddled constantly. We untangle the company tax number, its old name, and the separate personal number for directors.
The company NIF is the corporate tax number, and the CIF is simply what it used to be called. Foreign companies without a permanent establishment get the N98 version of it.
The NIE is something different again — a personal number an individual director or representative may need, quite separate from the company's own NIF.