How to validate your Invoices on the e-Fatura Portal?

The e-Fatura portal is one of the most important digital tools for managing expenses in Portugal. Created by the Portuguese Tax and Customs Authority (AT), this portal serves to cross-check sales information from merchants with purchases made by consumers. For you, whether you are a young entrepreneur, self-employed professional or employee, validating these invoices is the only way to ensure you claim the correct IRS deductions and recover part of the money spent throughout the year.

If you use digital management solutions, you already know how much automation can simplify your life. While Moloni ON automates the issuance and communication of invoices from your company to the Tax Authority, validating your personal and professional expenses as a consumer on e-Fatura still requires regular manual attention.

Key Takeaways

• Annual deadline: You always have until 25 February of the following year to validate all pending invoices on the portal.
• Deductible categories: Expenses related to healthcare, education, housing, nursing homes and general family expenses provide direct deductions on your IRS tax return.
• VAT deductible sectors: Activities such as restaurants, accommodation, hairdressers, veterinarians, gyms and public transport passes allow you to recover 15% of the VAT paid.
• Pending invoices: These occur when a merchant has multiple Economic Activity Codes (CAE) and the Tax Authority cannot automatically determine where the expense should be classified.
• Self-employed workers: If you are under the simplified tax regime, you must indicate whether the expense is personal, professional or mixed-use.

What is the e-Fatura portal and why should you use it?

The e-Fatura portal is the central platform of the Portuguese Tax Authority that records all commercial transactions associated with your Tax Identification Number (NIF). The main objective of the portal is to combat tax evasion while offering financial incentives to taxpayers who request invoices with their tax number.

Whenever you make a purchase and provide your NIF, the merchant is legally obliged to communicate that invoice to the Tax Authority through the submission of the SAF-T (PT) file or via the direct API of their invoicing software. Once the document enters the public system, it becomes visible in your personal area.

Using the portal is not just an obligation; it is a matter of financial intelligence. If you fail to validate documents that remain in the "pending invoices" section, you could lose hundreds of euros in automatic deductions when your IRS is calculated.

How to access e-Fatura step by step?

To start checking your expenses, you need to access the official Tax Authority portal dedicated to this purpose. The process is simple and can be completed using a computer or smartphone.

1. Go to the official website: Access the e-Fatura portal through the official Tax Authority website.

2. Choose your area: Click on "Consumer" if you want to validate personal expenses, or "Merchant" if you wish to verify invoices issued by your company.

3. Log in: Enter your NIF and your Tax Portal password. Alternatively, you can use your Digital Mobile Key (Chave Móvel Digital) for faster access.

4. Navigate to invoices: On the main dashboard, you will immediately see a summary of your expenses by category and a notification if you have invoices waiting for validation.

How to validate pending invoices on the portal?

This is the main task you should perform regularly (at least once a month to avoid accumulating work). Invoices become pending when the establishment where you made the purchase is registered under multiple economic activities — for example, a supermarket that sells food, clothing, electronics and school supplies.

When this happens, the Tax Authority cannot determine automatically what was purchased and requires your intervention.

To resolve this, follow these steps:

• Click the "Complete Invoice Information" button.
• You will see a list showing the merchant’s name, date, document number and total amount.
• Next to each entry, you will find several icons representing deduction categories (Healthcare, Education, Restaurants, Vehicle Repairs, etc.).
• Select the correct icon that corresponds to the nature of that expense.
• Click "Save" at the bottom of the page.

If you have supermarket invoices that include school materials for your children or healthcare expenses, remember to assign those costs to the correct category in order to maximise your IRS refund.

I am self-employed: how do I separate personal and professional expenses?

If you are registered as self-employed with the Tax Authority (generally under the simplified Category B regime), your e-Fatura account will include an additional and crucial step. The system will ask whether each expense was incurred "within the scope of your professional activity".

This distinction has a direct impact on your tax and accounting obligations. You have three possible options for each document:

• Yes (Professional Activity): The expense supports your business activity (e.g. office supplies, computers, work-related travel). Both the VAT and the base amount are considered for professional expense calculations.
• No (Personal Expense): The expense was purely personal. The document follows the standard household IRS deduction rules.
• Partially (Mixed Expense): Applies to expenses that serve both personal and professional purposes, such as internet or electricity bills when working from home. The system applies a fixed percentage allocation to your activity.

Managing this balance requires accuracy in order to avoid Tax Authority audits. If you use Moloni ON to issue invoices to your clients, half of your tax ecosystem is already organised and professionalised. Treat your e-Fatura account with the same level of professionalism.

What are the expense categories and deduction limits for IRS?

Not all expenses provide the same tax benefit. The Portuguese Tax Authority divides expenses into specific categories, each with defined deduction percentages and maximum limits.

Transport Note: 100% of the VAT paid on monthly public transport passes is deductible for IRS purposes and counts towards the overall €250 limit under the invoice requirement category.

What should you do if an invoice does not appear on e-Fatura?

Merchants have until the 8th day of the month following the purchase to communicate invoices to the Tax Authority. If you made a purchase on 10 May, it may only appear in your portal around 8 June. If, after this deadline, the document is still missing, you can enter it manually.

To register a missing invoice, you must have the paper or PDF document and follow these steps:

1. Access your consumer area on e-Fatura.

2. Click "Register Invoices".

3. Enter the Merchant's Tax Number (Issuer).

4. Select the document type (Invoice, Invoice-Receipt, etc.).

5. Enter the document number, issue date, total amount and VAT value.

6. Save the changes.

Keep the physical or digital proof of this invoice for at least four years. If the Tax Authority decides to conduct a random inspection, you may be asked to present the original document to prove that the manually entered information is accurate.

How does the e-Fatura app for Android and iOS work?

If you prefer handling everything through your smartphone while commuting or having a coffee, the Tax Authority provides the official e-Fatura app. The application is free and designed to be fast and intuitive.

The main advantage of the mobile app is its QR Code scanning functionality. If you have a paper invoice that has not yet appeared in the system and you want to ensure it is registered, simply open the camera through the app, point it at the QR Code printed on the receipt, and the document will be registered in your account almost instantly. Additionally, validating pending invoices in the app can be done with a few simple taps on the screen, saving considerably more time than using the traditional web version.

Keep your finances organised, both when validating your everyday purchases and when managing your business with advanced tools such as Moloni ON. Good tax organisation is the best way to avoid surprises at the end of the year.