e-Fatura in Portugal: Validate Invoices and Resolve Pending Items
Portuguese issuers normally report invoices to AT by day 5 of the following month. Learn how to resolve pending invoices, register missing purchases and check the final IRS deductions—not just the provisional totals.
- e-Fatura is Portugal's system for invoices reported electronically to AT; issuers generally communicate them by day 5 of the following month.
- Your NIF facilitates automatic association; an invoice without it can also be registered by QR code in the app. Eligible expenses still need the correct classification and validation.
- The legal validation deadline is the last day of February of the following year; for the 2026 filing cycle it was 2 March 2026 because month-end fell on a non-working day.
- You can correct your own inaccurate communication; that is not permission to delete the issuer's invoice record. Correct classification, missing-invoice registration and deduction complaints have distinct procedures.
e-Fatura is the electronic invoicing system run by the Autoridade Tributária (AT). Whenever a business in Portugal issues an invoice, it's legally required to report that invoice to the AT — by the 5th of the month following issuance at the latest. That means the tax authority already has a running record of your spending under your NIF long before you ever open your IRS return.
How do I validate pending invoices in e-Fatura?
Open e-Fatura, go to Faturação > Adquirente > Resolver Pendências, open the invoice, choose the relevant sector from the issuer's registered activities and save. If you have self-employed activity, indicate whether the expense is personal, wholly business-related or partly business-related. Multiple issuer activities and the buyer's business activity are common reasons for pending invoices; choosing a sector does not make every expense tax-deductible.
What is the e-Fatura deadline in 2026, and which invoice year does it cover?
The validation deadline was 2 March 2026 for invoices from 2025, used in the IRS return filed in 2026. The legal rule is the end of February after the invoice year, adjusted for a non-working day. Invoices issued in 2026 belong to the 2027 filing cycle: check AT's exact 2027 calendar date, rather than recycling 2 March 2026 or the old 25 February deadline.
IRS deductions: limits and eligible expense groups.
Why this matters for your deductions
- An invoice with your NIF can be associated automatically when reported. Without it, the app's QR registration can still associate the purchase, subject to the relevant deduction conditions.
- Each invoice also needs to be tied to the right sector (health, education, housing, or general expenses). If it stays unresolved, it may not feed the sector deduction you expected.
- Health invoices at the standard VAT rate need a prescription linked to them to count as a health expense rather than a general one.
- Invoices you forgot to give your NIF on when you paid can still be registered afterwards, by scanning the receipt's QR code in the e-Fatura app.
The validation process, step by step
Keep the Portuguese menu labels to hand. AT's invoice FAQ distinguishes the app from the website; the steps below use that distinction.
- Give your NIF on every purchase
Ask for your NIF on the invoice to facilitate automatic association when the issuer communicates it, normally by day 5 of the following month. If your NIF is missing, AT also permits registration by scanning the invoice's QR code in the e-Fatura app. The relevant expense and validation conditions still apply.
- Log into the e-Fatura portal or app
On the website, open Portal das Finanças > e-Fatura > FATURAÇÃO > ADQUIRENTE > VERIFICAR FATURAS. In the e-Fatura app, use "As minhas faturas". These are different interfaces; use the route for the one you have open.
- Check the sector/category each invoice was reported under
An invoice can show as pendente when its issuer is registered for more than one economic activity (CAE) — you then have to select the relevant sector. Self-employed taxpayers must also say whether each expense belongs wholly or partly to their activity. An unresolved invoice may not be allocated to the deduction you expect.
- Save the classification, then check the invoice
For professional-expense classification on the website, use FATURAÇÃO > ADQUIRENTE > Resolver Pendências, then "Guardar". The apps e-Fatura and ATGo also support classifying several invoices together. Reopen the invoice to check what was saved; a classification is not a guarantee of an IRS deduction.
- Confirm or dispute invoices, especially near the February deadline
If the sector is wrong, reclassify the invoice in the app or portal. Insert missing invoices and correct discrepancies by the legal deadline: the last day of February after the invoice year. In the 2026 filing cycle this moved to 2 March 2026 because 28 February was a non-working day. Health expenses at the standard VAT rate need the prescription linked by the same validation deadline.
- Watch the running deduction total update
Invoice tiles show provisional totals, not the final IRS deductions or a guaranteed refund. Consult the separate Deduções à Coleta view, which also includes qualifying information reported by other entities, such as rent receipts. For the 2025 IRS cycle it was available from 16 March 2026. If replacing AT's health, education, housing or care-home amounts in Anexo H, enter the full relevant expense table for the whole household and keep proof.
The deadline: the end of February
The legal deadline to register, classify and validate invoices is the final day of February after the invoice year. For 2025 invoices used in the return filed in 2026, AT set 2 March 2026 because 28 February fell on a non-working day. For 2026 invoices, use the exact date in AT's 2027 calendar rather than assuming a fixed 25 February deadline. Health expenses charged at the standard IVA rate need their prescription associated and the qualifying amount confirmed by the invoice-validation deadline.
If you dispute an invoice
A few different things can go wrong, and AT provides a route for each. Insert or correct a missing or inaccurate invoice in e-Fatura by the validation deadline. If an issuer refused to provide an invoice, report it through AT's support channels with identifying details. If you reject AT's totals for health, education, housing or care-home expenses, you can replace them in Anexo H when filing, but must enter the full relevant expense table for the household. Keep evidence for four years when you manually inserted an invoice that the issuer did not communicate, or when your intervention classified it into a specific deduction sector; correctly reported and automatically allocated invoices do not all carry the same paper-retention need.
Frequently asked questions
How do I validate pending invoices in e-Fatura?
Open e-Fatura, go to Faturação > Adquirente > Resolver Pendências, open the invoice, choose the relevant sector from the issuer's registered activities and save. If you have self-employed activity, indicate whether the expense is personal, wholly business-related or partly business-related. Multiple issuer activities and the buyer's business activity are common reasons for pending invoices; choosing a sector does not make every expense tax-deductible.
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What is the e-Fatura deadline in 2026, and which invoice year does it cover?
The validation deadline was 2 March 2026 for invoices from 2025, used in the IRS return filed in 2026. The legal rule is the end of February after the invoice year, adjusted for a non-working day. Invoices issued in 2026 belong to the 2027 filing cycle: check AT's exact 2027 calendar date, rather than recycling 2 March 2026 or the old 25 February deadline.
An invoice is missing from e-Fatura. What should I do?
The issuer normally has until day 5 of the following month to communicate it, so it need not appear immediately after purchase. If it is still missing, use Registar Faturas in the app or Portal das Finanças and enter the document you hold accurately. For a manually communicated invoice, AT instructs you to keep the proof for four years counted from the end of the acquisition year. If issuer and buyer communications later both appear and match the same invoice, AT says not to remove them merely because two entries are displayed.
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Can an invoice without my NIF still count through its QR code?
Yes. AT FAQs 4918 and 4920 allow registration through the e-Fatura app using the invoice's QR code even when your NIF was not entered at purchase. Asking for your NIF remains the easiest route for automatic association when the issuer communicates it. A QR registration still needs to meet the relevant expense and validation conditions; it does not make unrelated spending deductible.
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Why are rent receipts or insurance missing from my e-Fatura deduction total?
The provisional invoice tiles are not the final IRS deductions. AT FAQ 4931 says electronic rent receipts do not appear in those provisional totals. The separate Deduções à Coleta view also includes qualifying information reported by other entities, such as rent, insurance and public education. Check that view and supporting documents rather than entering a duplicate invoice just to make a provisional tile increase.
When can I check and challenge the final IRS expense deductions?
For the 2025 IRS cycle, AT's official calendar set 16–31 March 2026 to consult the assessed deductions and complain about general family expenses or invoice-based VAT deductions. Check each household member, including dependants. This window is separate from invoice validation and does not postpone IRS filing or payment. Use the relevant annual calendar for the next cycle rather than assuming the same exact dates.
How do I correct health, education, housing or care-home totals in Anexo H?
You can choose to replace AT's communicated amounts for these expense groups in Anexo H. In that case, declare the full relevant expense table for all household members, not just the one invoice you want to add, and keep proof. General family expenses and invoice-based VAT complaints use the separate complaint route and deadline. Do not treat the e-Fatura running total as a guaranteed refund or change only a disputed field while omitting the household's other expenses.
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What happens if I don't give my NIF when I buy something?
It will not automatically appear under your name through the issuer's communication, but AT permits QR-code registration in the e-Fatura app even without a NIF on the original invoice. Eligible expense and validation conditions still apply.
What's the deadline to validate my invoices?
The legal deadline is the last day of February after the invoice year, adjusted when that day is non-working. For 2025 invoices it was 2 March 2026. Check AT's 2027 calendar for the exact deadline covering 2026 invoices; prescription-linked health expenses use the invoice-validation deadline.
An invoice is classified under the wrong sector. Can I fix it?
Yes. In the e-Fatura app or Portal das Finanças > e-Fatura > Faturação > Adquirente > Verificar Faturas, select the invoice and choose the correct sector — but only from among the sectors the issuing business is actually registered under.
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A business refused to give me an invoice. What can I do?
Report the refusal at any AT service point, giving as much identifying detail about the business as you can (name, address, trading name). The AT can act on that report directly.
I disagree with the total e-Fatura calculated for my health or education deduction. Can I change it?
Yes — you can manually override the figures for health, education/training, housing, and care-home expenses in Anexo H of your Modelo 3 IRS return, filling in the whole section rather than just the field you're correcting.
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