The rapid pace of changes in tax regulations and requirements can make it challenging to keep up with the latest trends. To stay ahead of the curve, join our quarterly webinar, VAT Reporting and SAF-T: Progress and Prospects, where Sovos’ regulatory expert Inês Carvalho offers solutions to help businesses stay up to date with the latest VAT Reporting and SAF-T trends.
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In our latest VAT Reporting and SAF-T quarterly update webinar, Inês Carvalho, Regulatory Counsel, analyses the latest legislative changes to periodic reporting (VAT and SAF-T) and how they could affect your business.
During this 30-minute webinar, Inês will cover:
Changes are coming to Portugal’s Billing SAF-T reporting requirements for non-resident taxpayers that trade in the country.
The process may be stringent but that doesn’t mean it has to be difficult for your company. Here are four things you need to be aware of about Portugal’s billing SAF-T obligations.
Billing SAF-T is already compulsory for resident Portuguese companies but from January 2023, non-resident VAT registered companies are also obligated to submit a monthly billing SAF-T. The first report is due on 8 February 2023 and has particular requirements, which we discuss below.
The monthly deadline for submitting the Billing SAF-T is the eight day of the month following the reporting period.
A unique requirement to Portugal is that the Billing SAF-T file must be generated by ‘certified billing systems’ as designated by the tax authorities. Failure to comply with this requirement is subject to a fine.
Non-resident taxpayers need to ensure they are using a certified billing software to remain compliant.
Sovos’ SAF-T cloud solution is recognised as a certified billing software by Portugal’s tax authority. This makes staying on top of Portugal’s SAF-T Billing report obligations simple, with customised options available for customers needing to take a tailored approach.
Portugal’s SAF-T requirements include specific formatting for generation and submission. Based on the original OCED 1.0 schema, this includes a specified header, master files, and source documents.
For the most part, information in the schema is conditionally required, meaning most fields only need to be submitted if the relevant data exists in a taxpayer’s source system.
Taxpayers must be able to generate the required fields in their system and understand which data is required for submission.
Portugal’s tax authority has continued to introduce new requirements and extend the scope of SAF-T in the country. Changes include stricter integrity and authenticity requirements and reducing the time window for invoice reporting obligations.
The tax authority’s changing requirements and increased visibility put additional strain on taxpayers to submit compliantly and on time.
Sovos’ Managed Service can help ease tax compliance burden for companies operating in Portugal and beyond. Our team of tax experts combined with our tax technologies help companies with filing and reporting obligations. Speak to our team to learn more about how Sovos can help solve tax for good.
Update: 30 November 2022 by Charles Riordan
Romania SAF-T Filing declarations are changing. The draft order extending the grace period for SAF-T will not be implemented. The President of ANAF has confirmed that decision.
The extension originally supported large taxpayers who have had to submit SAF-T since 1 January 2022. ANAF now states that large taxpayers have, on the whole, complied with the original deadlines. This renders the extension “not appropriate.”
ANAF will follow an unofficial policy of leniency for SAF-T submissions. According to a spokesperson, the agency will first give notifications to delinquent taxpayers. Next, they will issue warnings. Fines are a last resort.
The initial six-month grace period for SAF-T hasn’t been formally extended, but it remains in force. Taxpayers will not receive penalties for late or missed filings while the grace period exists.
The grace period applies for six months after the obligation to file SAF-T arises. This obligation begins:
Still have questions about SAF-T Filing Declarations in Romania? Speak to our tax experts.
Update: 18 August 2022 by Charles Riordan
On 1 August 2022, the Romanian National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) published a draft order extending the current grace period for Standard Audit File for Tax (SAF-T) declarations from six months to twelve months. The order will take effect upon approval and publication in the Official Gazette. At the time of writing, approval and publication are expected shortly.
The Romanian tax authority initially granted the grace period due to the complexity of the country’s SAF-T filing. The SAF-T must include available data from master files, source documents, general ledger entries, and, on a separate cadence, data related to fixed assets and inventory. Because of this complexity, ANAF instituted a six-month grace period, during which taxpayers would not be penalised for late or incorrect filings. The ANAF also implemented SAF-T in phases, with the large taxpayers obliged to file before mid-sized and small taxpayers.
ANAF has acknowledged, however, that even large taxpayers have struggled to meet the technical requirements of the SAF-T declaration. Therefore, with the initial six-month grace period set to expire, ANAF proposes to extend it to alleviate the burden on filers.
The grace period, as before, takes effect from the date a taxpayer is obliged to submit the SAF-T declaration. The obligation for different categories of taxpayers begins:
This means that taxpayers who are obliged to file SAF-T in 2022 will now have grace periods extending into 2023 (e.g. 1 January 2023 for “large taxpayers” who were categorised as such in 2021; 1 July 2023 for “large taxpayers” who were only categorised as such in 2022).
The language of the amendment doesn’t limit the twelve-month grace period to large taxpayers, so it is presumed that the grace period will apply to other taxpayers as well. This amendment would extend the grace period for medium taxpayers into 2024 and all others into 2026. Further clarifications on this point may be released in the future.
The rollout of SAF-T in Romania has been eventful, with multiple revisions to both the schema itself and taxpayer obligations. Taxpayers doing business in Romania must ensure that they stay abreast of the latest developments with this declaration, as there will undoubtedly be more to come.
Need to comply with the latest changes in Romanian SAF-T? Speak to our team. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to keep up-to-date with the latest regulatory news and updates.