Portugal: Main 2018 VAT news

It is now possible, according to Decree 293/2017, dated October 2017, to request from the Portuguese Tax Authorities the SVAT, a validation stamp attributed to electronic accounting software, in relation to the issuance and sending of SAF-T files. This will give the taxable persons the legal certainty needed to ensure that the software used is legitimate.

Binding ruling 12578, of November 2017, states that the waiver of the obligation to issue invoices, which applies to exempt transactions, is not available to mixed taxable persons. Only fully exempt taxable persons (i.e. those who exclusively carry out transactions that do not grant the right to input VAT deduction) may waive this obligation to issue invoices.

Binding ruling 12676, of December 2017, states that the copies of invoices, such as the reproduction of the original invoice or the printing of a PDF file, do not guarantee that the requirements for the right to deduct VAT are met, since they do not ensure that the input VAT has not been deducted more than once. This does not apply to situations of loss or damage of the original invoice.