Tax in Portugal - important dates to know for 2023 for IRS personal income tax, car tax, property and council taxes in Portugal. 

Both locals and foreign residents in Portugal need to be aware of their tax obligations and the dates by which they should be fulfilled. Below is a very clear and useful month by month summary of what tax issues need your attention. Failure to pay taxes at the correct time can result in fines, and simply not knowing taxes were due is not a defense the Portuguese tax authorities will accept.

The information below was provided by All Finance Matters. Based in Tavira and operating acorss the Algarve, All Finance Matters provides expert insight and advice to local and foreign residents, on both personal and business tax and financial management issues. Their advice is always well-researched, practical and actionable. They can save you money, time, and headaches by ensuring you are tax-compliant and tax efficient.

You may also wish to consult our resources on:
- Portugal Tax
- Property in Portugal
- Algarve Expat Guide

---

Tax calendar: dates you need to put in your diary for 2023
This article was originally published by All Finance Matters.

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 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 until the 31^st 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 31^st 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 is applicable 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 to 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 became resident in 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 is 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 1^st 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 30^th 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 source (ie property rentals, sale of a property, etc) also need to submit the tax return.

MAY
Payment of the first installment 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 is higher, please look for other installment 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 31^st 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, providing you have delivered the tax return within the time limits. If the tax return was submitted after the deadline, payment may be made until 31^st 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 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 in the commercial value).

NOVEMBER
Payment of the third and last installment 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 5^th of each month, although there is a tolerance of 3 days. Please be aware that the limit date used to be the 12^th , and the tax authorities will be more strict on this 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 with 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 personal situation and avoid any unnecessary fines.

Contact All Finance Matters