By Ricardo Chaves
Dates to save on the calendar 2023
Tax calendar: dates you need to put in your diary for 2023
We wish all readers a healthy and happy 2023! Below you can find some of the dates that you need to put in your diary, concerning taxes in Portugal.
Please remember that before you submit your Personal Income Tax (IRS) you need to perform some tasks as per the new habits acquired in the previous years: tasks like validating or registering invoices at the tax portal, are now procedures that became part of the routine of any taxpayer. Your role is important in determining your IRS deductions, therefore check the tax calendar, to make sure you don’t lose any deductions or pay any fines.
January
If you have a business activity which was VAT exempt under article 53, but in 2022 you exceeded the VAT threshold, then you need to change your VAT status by the 31st of January. Likewise, if you were paying VAT but did not exceed the threshold in 2022 and wish to become exempt, the same deadline applies.
If you have a rental contract and are not obliged to issue monthly rental receipts, you have until the 31st of January to declare the yearly rental income for 2022.
For your info, the VAT threshold in 2022 was 12.500€ and this limit will increase in 2023 to 13.500€. The VAT threshold applies to your business income, irrespective of how many activities you may have.
February
Each taxpayer has until the 25th of February to query, report and verify invoices. To do this you should access the e-Factura portal and access your personal page, where you should verify if all your invoices have been properly communicated. If you find any failure or any invoice is not recorded, you can add these invoices to your file. It is also important to check in which category your invoices are recorded and move them into the appropriate section (ie health, education, etc) otherwise the deduction will not be accepted. These procedures need to be performed for each household expenditure holder, including dependents.
It is also important to update or register your household for tax purposes, before 15/02. Please note that this can be very important, not only for tax purposes but for other related matters, such as inscription at schools, kindergarten, etc and or other tax benefits you may be entitled to.
March
If you become a resident of Portugal in 2022 and want to apply for the Non-Habitual Residency scheme, you have until the end of March to submit your application at the tax portal.
During March, you also need to check your e-fatura page at the tax portal and if you feel the information is not correct, you can challenge the calculations made by the Tax Authorities. In other words, your tax deductions will be summarized here, under family general expenses, healthcare expenses, training and education expenses, charges with property for permanent residence, invoices VAT and costs with foster homes; if your total invoices are not consistent with the one totals shown in the portal, you have this two weeks window to contest it. Please note that it’s necessary to check this for each taxpayer.
April
You can submit your IRS (Personal Income Tax) declaration for 2022, from the 1st of April, until the end of June. This means that all declarations can be submitted during these three months, irrespective of your income category (employment income, pension income, self-employment income, rentals, etc.)
Please note that all residents, including Non-Habitual Residents, need to submit a tax return, even if they didn’t receive any income or don’t have any tax to pay. If the information on your foreign source income is not yet available before the 30th of June, you can file for an extension and submit the tax return later at no cost.
All non-residents that have income from Portuguese sources (ie property rentals, sale of a property, etc) also need to submit the tax return.
May
Payment of the first instalment of the IMI council tax. If in your case, the council tax is lower than 100€, this will be the only payment date you need to remember. If higher, please look for other instalment dates in August and November.
June
Do not forget to submit the IRS (Personal Income Tax) for 2022 by the end of June. Please remember that if you do not deliver your IRS on time, or if you fail to meet some of the deadlines above, you may lose some or all your tax deductions. Late delivery of your IRS may also cancel your IMI (Council Tax) exemption.
July
If you are entitled to a tax refund, the settlement must be made by the 31st of July. This is the deadline for the Tax Authorities to pay you.
August
If you have IRS tax to pay, you should make the payment no later than the last day of August, provided you have delivered the tax return within the time limits. If the tax return was submitted after the deadline, payment may be made until the 31st of December (fines and interest will apply).
The second instalment of the IMI council tax is due this month. This is applicable for all those where the yearly IMI payment is higher than 500€ per taxpayer.
September
If you have AIMI (additional council tax) to pay, this needs to be paid by the end of September. Remember that are liable for AIMI payment on all properties owned by companies. Individual owners are only exempt from AIMI, in the first 600 thousand Euros worth of property (based on the tax value and not on the commercial value).
November
Payment of the third and last instalment of the IMI council tax. This is applicable for all those where the yearly IMI payment is higher than 100€ per taxpayer.
Recurring dates
Please remember that if you have a business activity, you are obliged to issue invoices up to five days after providing the service or receiving the funds. And all the monthly invoices need to be reported to the tax authorities (SAFT file) also by the 5th of each month, although 3 days are tolerant. Please be aware that the limit date used to be the 12th and the tax authorities will be more strict from 2023 and fines for late issuance of invoices or late submission of the monthly invoice file, will be applicable. This deadline also includes the invoices related to your rentals (AL).
Each month you also need to issue your monthly rental receipts in case you have a rental contract registered.
The car tax needs to be paid by the last day of the month when the car was registered. Please do not forget this as the fines are high in this case.
If you have a business activity, please remember that each quarter you need to submit a social security declaration, to ascertain how much social security you will pay each month in the following quarter.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us; tax planning is critical and you and your company, cannot afford surprises. Contact our office to discuss your situation and avoid any unnecessary fines.