Portugal delays the SAF-T (PT) accounting file to 2027 periods, first filed in 2028
This page records one dated change. For the rules in Portugal as they stand today, see the Portugal guide →
- Jurisdiction
- Portugal
- Tax
- VAT (IVA)
- Change type
- Compliance
- Status
- In force
- Impact
- Plan ahead
- Announced
- 30 December 2025
- Effective
- 1 January 2026
- Authority
- Assembleia da República
- Verified
- Fetched from official source · high confidence
Businesses in Portugal required to submit the SAF-T (PT) accounting file under Portaria n.º 31/2019, and their accounting software providers.
Businesses must ensure certified accounting software is in place for FY 2027. First SAF-T accounting file due 2028. Begin implementation planning in 2026.
Lei n.º 73-A/2025, de 30 de dezembro (OE 2026), Article 95(2), provides that submission of the SAF-T (PT) accounting file under Portaria n.º 31/2019 applies to tax periods from 2027 onward, with the first files delivered in 2028. Lei n.º 45-A/2024 (OE 2025), Article 114(2), had set periods from 2026, filed in 2027.
What changed in detail
Article 95 of Lei n.º 73-A/2025, de 30 de dezembro, Portugal’s State Budget law for 2026, sets transitional rules on tax obligations.
Its paragraph 2 provides that submission of the SAF-T (PT) accounting file, as defined by Portaria n.º 31/2019, de 24 de janeiro, applies to periods of 2027 and following, to be delivered in 2028 or later periods.
The previous budget law, Lei n.º 45-A/2024 (State Budget 2025), Article 114(2), had applied the obligation to periods from 2026, filed in 2027. Lei n.º 73-A/2025 moves both dates back by one year.
The accounting SAF-T file is separate from the monthly communication of invoice data to the tax authority, which is already in force and is not affected by this article.
Paragraph 3 of the same article extends the acceptance of PDF invoices to 31 December 2026; that change has its own record. The law enters into force on 1 January 2026.
What it means
This is the law in force in November 2026: the first accounting SAF-T file covers 2027 and is due in 2028.
It may move again. The Government’s 2027 State Budget bill would apply the obligation to 2028 periods, filed in 2029; see the record on the 2027 bill. As of 12 November 2026 the bill had not been enacted.
The obligation has slipped one year at a time in successive budgets. Software providers and accounting teams should keep 2027 as the working assumption until the 2027 budget is published, then re-plan against its final text.
Proof
2 - A submissão do ficheiro SAF-T (PT) relativo à contabilidade, nos termos definidos pela Portaria n.º 31/2019, de 24 de janeiro, é aplicável aos períodos de 2027 e seguintes, a entregar em 2028 ou em períodos seguintes.2 - Submission of the SAF-T (PT) accounting file, as defined by Portaria 31/2019 of 24 January, applies to periods from 2027 onward, to be delivered in 2028 or later.
Source snapshot of the official page. Open full size ↗Archived from the official distribution · Lei n.º 73-A/2025, de 30 de dezembro (Orçamento do Estado para 2026), Diário da República n.º 250/2025, Suplemento, Série I, art. 95.º (p. 59 of the PDF) · files.diariodarepublica.pt