Portuguese tax authorities create new facilities for freelancers

Freelancers issuing independent worker tax receipts, nicknamed green receipts, will notice that changes have been made to the tax authority website.

The function allowing for the issue of green receipts has been reworked and is different from usual.

Starting this week there are new facilities allowing for a receipt to be issued taking into account services which are liable to different tax rates.

“The goal was to have a system that was a little more developed, but also simpler. For example, in local accommodation, the invoices for the accommodation itself are subject to VAT, but the tourist tax is not. The green receipt did not allow these two components to be placed on the same invoice. Now it can”, explained Jorge Carrapiço, a consultant for the Order of Certified Accountants, to online news source ECO.

In addition to this facility, a tool is also available that allows the self-employed to create a customer file. “If you regularly issue invoices to the same customer, and to facilitate the issuance process, you can create the customer file”, reads a presentation by the Tax Authority.

In this case, after clicking on invoices and receipts on the home page of the tax portal, you select the “clients” option. There you simply fill in the customer’s NIF (tax number), their name and address.

In the same way, you can now create product and service sheets, if you regularly issue invoices with the same products or services. In this case, instead of selecting the “customers” option, you choose “products, services and others”. Next, you should indicate the reference of the product or service, as well as its description.

For example, those working in dental practices can have customer files on the Tax Authority portal, facilitating the issuance of invoices. And a lawyer, who receives an allowance every month, can create a file, which allows him to issue the invoice and receipts in a few clicks.

“The goal is to make things simple. It’s normal for there to be some teething problems in the beginning, but I don’t think it’s that complicated. First it seems strange, then it becomes easier. It’s quite intuitive”, says the consultant for the Order of Certified Accountants.