Portugal postpones requirements for certified invoicing software.

Requirements for certified invoicing software postponed.

The Portuguese tax authorities have postponed the controversial mandatory application of certified software for non-resident companies until 01.01.2021.

Companies not resident in Portugal but registered for VAT purposes now have more time to implement the requirements of the Portuguese tax authorities.

Currently, all established companies are required to issue invoices from certified billing software if their previous annual revenue exceeded €75,000.

This obligation was due to be extended to non-established companies effective 01.01.20, however, this has now been postponed until 01.01.21.

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What is a certified billing software?

The authorities evaluate each billing software or ERP to confirm that it is compliant with their requirements and allocate a registration number to the software. This number must be indicated in each invoice.

Certified billing software in Portugal needs to meet several requirements in order to reduce the potential manipulation of business accounts and fraud. Approved software does not allow manual changes to an invoice already issued, it also does not allow the issuance of an invoice with a date in the past.

In practice, most Portuguese companies already have local certified billing software that meets their requirements, however, foreign businesses established in Portugal will need to validate their existing ERP or purchase certified billing software.