Compliance Services

Portugal’s B2G Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) mandate has been subject to multiple revisions- and yet again, this has been delayed – to 31 December 2023, via Law Decree no. 54/2023. 

Current requirements in Portugal mandate that only large businesses have a requirement to issues e-invoices in the B2G e-invoicing environment. 

You can read more about B2G e-invoicing in Portugal on our dedicated country-specific page here.  

The B2G landscape in Portugal has been subject to some revision, with delays going back as far as the summer of 2022. While initially having been mandatory on 1 January 2023, the Council of Ministers confirmed in a press conference of 18 May 2023 that the deadline for mandatory B2G e-invoicing for SME companies would once more be extended.  

The new law-Decree is yet to be published and confirmation of a new timeline is yet to be confirmed.   

Portugal is a compliant territory for Kofax and we will monitor e-invoicing developments in the country. Please refer to further e-invoicing on our dedicated e-invoicing page for Portugal here.   

In an era of high energy prices, overall inflation and even recession on the horizon for certain countries- it is expected that countries will respond by adjusting VAT rates.  

Portugal has exempted the import and transfers of specific food products, effective 18 April 2023 to 31 October 2023, from VAT. 

The full list can be found here.  

Portugal has taken the tax rate concessions even further and confirmed the zero VAT rate for specific food products. Law No. 17/2023 confirms the full list of products subject to the zero VAT rate. 

In Portugal, the following goods and services will now be subject to the reduced rate of 6%:  

• Canned fish and molluscs when the content of fish is at least 50%  
• Vegetal butter, drinks, and yogurts  
• The sale or repair service of bicycles. The sale of spare parts of bicycles, however, will be subject to the standard VAT rate (23%)  
• Access to direct broadcasting of concerts, theatres, amusement parks, museums, cinemas and similar events  
• Sale and installation of specific heaters and boilers that work with biomass  

• Pellets and briquets made from biomass.  

Portugal is a compliant territory for Tungsten Network and we support all valid VAT rates in the country.  

One of the most discerning observations of the past year has been the sharp increase in the deployment of environmental taxes. Through the taxation of elements that contribute to the proliferation of environmental issues that impact society today, the underlying objective of these taxes is ultimately the improvement of ecological affairs. This is a stark example of how countries can exploit fiscal measures to serve wider societal agendas. 

More recently, the United Kingdom and Spain have introduced a Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT). Portugal is the latest country to propose a similar initiative.  

Portugal has recently published guidance relating to a contribution required on single-use packaging made of either plastic or aluminium (or a combination of the two). This is expected to apply on read-to-eat meals and takeaways.  

The tax was initially expected to come into effect on 1 January 2023 but has been delayed until September 2023.  

Tungsten will follow developments in relation to the tax and assess whether we can support the upcoming tax in Portugal.  

The turn of 2023 is a busy one for Portugal in fiscal-related matters, as it also has made significant revisions to its tax code.  

As a summary, these changes include:  

• An increase in the VAT exemption limit, from 12,500 Euros to 13,500 Euros in 2023 
• An extension in the deadline for submitting tax returns, which includes an extension to 20 September for the filing of the second quarter VAT returns 
• A reduction in the VAT rate for vegetable-based drinks and butter, to 6% 

• A reduction on the VAT rate on biomass equipment, with specific equipment now taxed at 6%.  

Tungsten supports all valid VAT rates as part of our e-invoicing solution in Portugal and these are available on our portal for selection.  

As of 1 January 2023, it is mandatory to include an ATCUD code on a Portuguese invoice.  

Tungsten has previously commented on the delay of the mandatory implementation of the ATCUD code. As a reminder, the ATCUD is an 8-digit code unique identifier included on Portuguese fiscal documents, and comprises of the following:  

• A service validation code assigned by the Portuguese tax authorities, and 
• A series of numbers usually derived from the taxpayers’ software. 

Tungsten does not create the legal invoice on behalf of suppliers in Portugal. However, we assist Portuguese suppliers and buyers through efficient and rich invoice data delivery to buyers. Portuguese suppliers are advised to include the ATCUD code from 1 January 2023 in their fiscal documents as applicable.  

Increasingly, we are seeing countries advance environmental and health agendas via the deployment of fiscal measures. Such tax measures, ubiquitous in 2022, are expected to be equally commonplace in 2023, as awareness of ecological and related matters increases.  

Via its 2023 State Budget, Portugal is introducing a reduction in VAT on the purchase of bicycles. In doing so, Portugal becomes the first EU country to enact such a measure. From 1 January 2023, this will be set at the lowest VAT rate possible in Portugal, at 6%.  

Tungsten supports all valid VAT rates in Portugal as part of its solution, including the 6% rate. We are also conscious of the countries intrinsically linking further societal agendas which extend beyond the economy in their tax agendas, and we are investigating how we can integrate these as part of our solution.  

Order 8/2022-XXIII of the Secretary of State for Tax Affairs, dated 13 December 2022, introduced some amendments to the Portuguese 2023 tax calendar.  

These revisions have been summarised below:  

• The possibility to utilise PDFs as e-invoices for tax purposes has once again been extended, now to 31 December 2023, from which point a digital signature will be required on a PDF invoice.* 
• For any fiscal documents, such as invoices, credit notes, etc issued in 2023, businesses will have until the 8th of the following month to submit the Standard Audit File for Tax (SAF-T).  The SAF-T is an internally recognised standard which is used for the exchange of tax information.  

Further important points raised in the Order include the following: 

• The Portuguese Tax Authority (PTA) will promote compliance with the technical specifications necessary for the real-time communication of invoice data, either through webservice in real time, or through a monthly web service. 
• The PTA will also plan to implement a process to issue supporting compliance alerts to taxpayers who do not communicate the data included in their invoices by the 5th day of the following month, or when applicable.  
• Annual inventories can be submitted until the second month following the end the fiscal year. Consequently, the annual inventories for 2022 should be submitted before 28 February 2023. 

*Tungsten is closely following the requirement for PDF’s to be digitally signed in Portugal, especially considering the VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) proposal which re-defines the definition of an e-invoice, as well as modifying the relevance of digital signatures on a PDF. 

Decree-Law no. 198/2012 in Portugal confirms the obligation to communicate details in respect of invoicing documents.

Within this, the Portuguese Tax Authorities (PTA) have updated the list of VAT exemption codes.

To accommodate this change, developers and users of invoicing programs must ensure their systems are updated, in line with the codes on page 51 of the MANUAL DE INTEGRAÇÃO DE SOFTWARE – Comunicação dos elementos dos documentos de faturação à AT, por webservice” on the PTA website.

The link can be accessed below:

https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/apoio_contribuinte/Faturacao/Fatcorews/Documents/Comunicacao_dos_elementos_dos_documentos_de_faturacao.pdf