Portugal Makes it Mandatory to Declare the SAF-T Accounting File

The Portuguese tax administration has established that the declaration of SAF-T accounting files will be mandatory beginning in 2025.

The Direcção Geral de Contribuições e Impostos (DGCI) announced the SAFT-PT accounting file initiative in 2016 when it introduced its e-VAT declaration project. Until now it had not established an implementation date.

The incorporation of this electronic tax document follows the 2014 mandatory implementation of the SAFT-PT invoice and transport documents.

The Decree 48/2020 defines the use cases and characteristics of the SAFT-PT accounting file, as well as methods for its transmission.

What is the SAFT-PT accounting file?

The SAFT-PT accounting file is a document that follows the Standard Audit File for Tax format, an international standard used for the exchange of accounting and tax information.

Which companies are affected?

Private and public companies that engage in commercial, industrial, or agricultural activities, with headquarters or legal entities in Portugal.

What information must be included in the SAFT-PT accounting file?

The purpose of the SAFT-PT accounting file is to facilitate the electronic declaration of “Simplified Commercial Information / Annual Declaration of Accounting and Tax Information”.

The SAFT-PT accounting file must contain the following information:

• Header
• Accounting codes grid (GeneralLedgerAccounts);
• Customer grid (Customer);
• Supplier grid (Supplier);
• Tax grid (TaxTable);
• Accounting transactions (GeneralLedgerEntries);
• Receipt of issued documents, where applicable (Payments)

Prerequisites

Businesses must have an electronic system in place to declare the SAFT-PT accounting file to the Tax and Customs Authority (AT), the Portuguese tax administration.

EDICOM's Global VAT Compliance solution is certified by the AT. The platform allows you to automatically generate and send electronic tax documents in the format required by the Portuguese tax authority. The messages are integrated with your ERP and stored according the law.

Electronic Signature

The SAFT-PT file must be encrypted before its delivery.

Print Format

Not applicable.

Archiving

The files must be stored for 15 years.

If you are one of the companies affected, consult with our advisors. We will accompany you during and after implementation to help at every step of the way.