Portugal (2021 eInvoicing Country Sheet)

Legislation

The Lei nº 96/2015 regulates the access and use of certified public electronic procurement (eProcurement) management solutions, establishing the requirements and conditions to enable interoperability with public centralised systems and platforms.

The Public Procurement Code (Código dos Contratos Públicos) regulates the use of eInvoices in public procurement. A public consultation took place until the 10 October 2016 to update this legal instrument to, among other objectives, transpose the Directive 2014/55/EU. The article 299°- B of the public procurement code mandates that all public contracting authorities must have the possibility to receive and process eInvoices that are compliant to the European standard on electronic invoicing (EN). 

The Lei n.º 111-B/2017 that governs the eInvoicing system was passed on 31 August 2017. This decree was modified by Decree 123/2018, published on 28 December 2018, in which the characteristics of the model and the new terms of the obligation are the following:

• Mandatory adaptation of public administrations: By 18 April 2019, Portuguese public administrations and institutions must have their information systems adapted to the B2G eInvoicing requirements. This deadline extends until 18 April 2020 in the case of local public administrations (sub-central level).
• Requirement for suppliers (large companies): The deadline for eInvoicing issuance by this group of companies was on April 2020;
• Requirement for SMEs and micro-businesses: The deadline for adoption by companies not assigned to the previous group was on 31 December 2020.

On 7 April 2020, the Portuguese government adopted a series of exceptional and temporary measures in Decree-Law no. 14-A/2020 [1] aiming to ease adoption of eInvoicing. The law established new deadlines for adopting B2G eInvoicing in Portugal [2].

• Large companies must start using eInvoicing by 31st December 2020, instead of 1st April 2020.
• Small- and medium-sized enterprises have the obligation to start eInvoicing by 1st June 2021, instead of 31st December 2020.
• Micro-enterprises will begin eInvoicing on 31st December 2021, one year later than previously planned.

eInvoicing platform and management solutions

According to the Public Procurement Code (Código dos Contratos Públicos), all public procurement processes should preferably be performed electronically. Electronic procurement processes are supported and managed by different entities using diverse management systems and platforms.

The entity responsible for coordinating and implementing eInvoicing in Portugal is the Entidade de Serviços Partilhados da Administração Pública (eSPap) [3]. It is an umbrella organisation designated by the Ministry of Finance, Infrastructure and Housing.

EInvoices addressed to direct state bodies and public entities, such as IAPMEI, INEM, IPDJ, ISS or eSPap, are sent via the eSPap’s platform, Fatura Eletrónica na Administração Pública, (FE-AP) [4]:

Created in 1 November 2009, and still in use, Portal BASE (public procurement portal) is an online platform that enables the processing of contracts in the context of public procurement both in the pre- and post-award processes. This platform is managed by the public entity Instituto dos Mercados Públicos do Imobiliário e da Construção (IMPIC) and developed by the Instituto de Novas Tecnologias.

The information available via this portal is the result of the connection between the publication of tenders (communicated by Imprensa Nacional – Casa da Moeda), the different certified public eProcurement management solutions and the contracting authorities. The main purposes of the platform are the following:

• Centralisation of information and procedures on public procurement;
• Dissemination of tenders and other contracting procedures;
• Dissemination of technical contents and relevant legislation and
• Enhancement of transparency by enabling dissemination of information about public expenditure.

Approach for receiving and processing

Central, regional and local public authorities can use the Portal BASE platform to process contracts in the context of public procurement. This portal connects public eProcurement management solutions that process the administrative steps throughout the public procurement processes, including eInvoicing. These public eProcurement management solutions are operated by different service providers under the licence from IMPIC, supervised by the Centro de Gestão da Rede Informática do Governo (CEGER) and technically accredited by the Gabinete Nacional de Segurança (GNS).

There are five certified public eProcurement management solutions that connect to Portal BASE: acinGov, anoGov, ComprasPT, saphetygov and VORTAL Gov. These management solutions guarantee end-to-end processes where eInvoices are launched, sent and archived electronically with full ERP system integration. Contracting authorities should acquire a certified public eProcurement management solution. Economic operators can freely choose which certified management solution to use.

Other non-official suppliers of eInvoicing services and electronic data exchange solutions, developed platforms to facilitate issuing and receiving eInvoices in accordance with eSPap standards for public entities and their suppliers. These platforms provide electronic data interchange (EDI) and are aligned with cross-border eInvoicing and VAT requirements. These platforms are certified by the Portuguese tax authority as an eInvoicing application and complies with all eSPap standards ¹.

In the context of the shared services managed by eSPap, there are several platforms and systems in place to manage the public eProcurement processes at central, regional and local public authorities' level:

• The Sistema Nacional de Compras Públicas (SNCP), which enables the registry of pre-qualified suppliers to deliver goods and/or services to public administrations and contracting authorities who can freely subscribe to the eSPap services;
• The Catálogo Nacional de Compras Públicas (CNCP), available to entities that integrate SNCP, lists all the goods and services mandated in the framework agreements established by eSPap;
• The Plataforma Eletrónica de Compras, a cost-free platform that enables the launch and management of all public procurement processes, including eInvoicing, in the context of the framework agreements established by eSPap.

eInvoicing implementation in sub-central level contracting authorities 

As of 7 April 2020, temporary measures adopted in Decree-Law no. 14-A/2020, all public institutions, either Direct State administration bodies or public institutes, must work with eSPaP, at both, central and regional level [5].

Status on the implementation of the European Standard on eInvoicing (EN)

The two EN formats were adapted to the national B2G eInvoicing context via the creation of two CIUS, i.e. OASIS UBL 2.1 “CIUS-PT” and CEFACT “CIUS-PT”. Users connect to the platform via AS2 or Web Services. Portuguese eInvoicing issuers as well as recipients are required to keep documents for 10 years.

Monitoring eInvoicing implementation 

eInvoicing monitoring is ensured regarding the content of the eInvoices for tax compliance purpose. Suppliers and entities, when transferring and receiving eInvoices, must connect to the eSPap’s portal FE-AP, the gateway of the state to financial documents. The documents are transferred through a secure online connection (web-service).

Thus, sending via e-mail is not possible. eSPap supports users in the registration, test and go-live processes. Furthermore, the B2AP portal is designed to support suppliers in monitoring the status of eInvoices sent to the FE-AP solution.

Additional information

The Instituto Português da Qualidade (IPQ) established a technical committee to follow up on the activities performed at European level by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Commission. This committee brings together public and private entities to support and prepare compliance with the Directive 2014/55/EU and the European standard on eInvoicing. It is composed of public and private entities such as GS1 Portugal, itSMF (Associação Portuguesa de Gestores de Serviços TI), among 20 other entities.

[1] (Conselho de Ministros, 2021), [2] (edicom, 2020), [3] (Entidade de Serviços Partihados da Administraçao Pública, 2021), [4] (Fatura Eletrónica na AP, 2021), [5] (SNI, 2021), 

Last updated:  Jun 29, 2021 12:04