Amendments on SAF-T accounting file and reporting obligation on the establishments where invoices are issued

Mechanisms for the de-characterization of personal data

• The accounting programs, when generating SAF-T (PT) accounting files for the purpose of complying with the obligation to submit the IES/DA return for the 2020 fiscal year and subsequent, must use a secure service (webservice) of Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, S.A. (INCM) through which their tax number and the year to which the file refers must be communicated. Then the INCM must return the key that allows personal data contained in such files to be disfigured by means of a symmetric cipher algorithm.

• The terms to access to this service has still to be subject to regulation. Corresponding costs will be borne by the State.

• Under a tax audit, the Portuguese Tax Authoriry (AT) may request to the INCM to access to the aforementioned key in order to reverse the aforementioned process of de-characterization of the indicated personal data.

• SAF-T (PT) accounting files, submitted for the purposes of delivery of the IES/DA, must be kept by the taxable person until the end of the 15th year following the one they concern, and must be destroyed within six months following that deadline. Taxable persons, in turn, may request to the AT access to those files within the same period of 15 years.

Reporting obligation on the establishments where invoices are issued

• After the successive postponement on the fulfillment of the obligation established in article 34 of Decree-Law no. 28/2019, of February 15th, to communicate to the AT of several information, among which the identification and location of the company's establishments where invoices and other relevant documents are issued, the Government decided to eliminate this obligation, revoking said provision.

• We recall that this obligation had been suspended last week by Order no. 239/2020-XXII, of July 1, of the Secretary of State for Tax Affairs (see our Alert here).