Invoicing Tax Obligations

The business environment is currently undergoing a period of technological transformation never before seen in history. As a result of this evolution, tax systems and procedures must adapt to this accelerated development, with the primary goal of simplifying administrative processes and reducing the high complexity of tax obligations that characterize the Portuguese tax system.

Additionally, the implementation of digital solutions represents a significant commitment to environmentally sustainable practices by greatly reducing the consumption of printed materials, while also serving as a fundamental tool in the collective effort to prevent and detect tax evasion practices.

By using the iGEST software system — an invoicing solution officially certified by the Portuguese Tax and Customs Authority, as evidenced by certification number one thousand four hundred and eighty — your organization will have continuous access to the latest updates to the applicable legal framework, thus ensuring full compliance with all obligations and requirements established by current legislation.

What do I need to know?

How to obtain the validation code for ATCUD?

The ATCUD can be obtained manually through the Finance Portal or automatically with an Invoicing Software, such as iGEST.

What is ATCUD?

The Tax Authority defines ATCUD (Autoridade Tributária Código Único do Documento) as a code that allows uniquely identifying a fiscal document, regardless of its issuer, type, and series used.

According to Article 3 of Ordinance No. 195/2020, of August 13, the ATCUD results from the combination of the validation code assigned to the series with the sequential number of the document within that series, in the format “ATCUD: ValidationCode-SequentialNumber”.

What is ATCUD for?

The purpose of ATCUD, mandatory in Portugal since January 2023, is to prevent tax fraud/evasion and ensure that a document is reliable, proving its authorship.

It is also a way to simplify the communication of invoices by individuals.

In this sense, with this code, it is possible to avoid the issuance of duplicate fiscal documents, which is essential for the organization and financial management of a business. In summary, it is an important oversight tool as it allows fiscal documents to be easily found in accounting and oversight systems.

What are Invoicing Series?

Invoice series are a common practice in accounting and financial management. Invoices issued by a company are organised in numbered or alphanumeric series, to accompany and record sales transactions. They are therefore an important instrument of organisation, control and fiscal uniformity.

What is a SAF-T file?

The SAF-T (PT) (Standard Audit File for Tax Purposes – Portuguese version) is a standardized file (in XML format) with the aim of allowing easy export, at any time, of a predefined set of accounting and invoicing records or equivalents, in a readable and common format, independent of the program used, without affecting the internal structure of the program's database or its functionality.

The adoption of this model provides companies with a tool that meets the information requirements of inspection services, simplifying procedures and also promoting the use of new technologies.

The generation of the file by information systems always covers a certain annual tax period, total or partial, from the beginning of that period until its end or the generation date if earlier, and it is prohibited to have functionalities that allow the user to choose documents, series, or types of documents to export to SAF-T (PT).