Selling across the EU from Portugal: when 0% VAT quietly becomes 23%
The single market sells itself as frictionless: invoice a business in Germany without VAT, let the customer self-assess, move on. That is still true — but since 2020 the zero rate stands on four legs at once, and two of them are things most companies treat as paperwork. A customer number not valid in VIES, or a recapitulative statement not filed, now voids the exemption itself. The audit does not fine you for the form. It charges you 23% on the sale.
Describe the sale, get the VAT, the wording and the filing
Who charges, at what rate, what the invoice must say and where the sale is reported — from the Portuguese seller’s side, for a company established in mainland Portugal.
Conditions for this sale: 0. The six that matter most are shown below.
From formality to condition
Directive 2018/1910 — the “Quick Fixes” — was transposed in Portugal by Lei 49/2020 with effect from 1 January 2020. It moved two things from the evidence pile into the law itself.
The customer’s VAT number was evidence that it was a business. If it was missing or invalid, a supplier could often defend the exemption by proving business status some other way, and the Court of Justice repeatedly let substance beat form.
The recapitulative statement was a reporting duty. Missing it cost a fine, not the exemption.
A VAT number from another member state, valid in VIES and communicated to the supplier, is a substantive condition of the exemption alongside the transport itself.
And art. 14.º(2) RITI says the exemption does not apply where the recapitulative statement is not filed, unless the supplier justifies the failure and corrects it.
The practical consequence is that the audit no longer has to argue about whether your customer was really a business. It checks two databases — VIES on the date of supply and its own record of your recapitulative statements — and if either is empty, the supply becomes a domestic sale at 23%, assessed on you, with interest and a fine on top. The customer, meanwhile, has already deducted nothing because it self-assessed nothing. There is no one to pass the cost back to.
Your own number is not in VIES yet
You declare that the company will carry out intra-EU operations — on the start-of-activity declaration under art. 31.º CIVA, or later on an alterations declaration under art. 32.º — on the Portal das Finanças. Until then, a German customer checking your number sees “invalid” and its own tax adviser will tell it not to accept your exempt invoice.
Do it before the first sale, not after the first rejectionUse the European Commission’s VIES tool and enter your own VAT number as the requester. That returns a consultation number with the date and time — the only check that proves anything later. Save it per customer at onboarding, and again periodically: numbers are deactivated, and validity on the date of supply is what counts.
A screenshot without a consultation number proves very littleArt. 45a of Regulation 282/2011 presumes the goods left Portugal where you hold two non-contradictory documents from two independent parties: a CMR, bill of lading or carrier invoice, plus an insurance policy, bank payment for the transport or warehouse receipt. If the customer collects, you also need its written statement by the 10th of the following month. The tax authority can rebut the presumption; you can also prove transport by other means.
Ex-works sales are where this fails most oftenBy the 20th of the following month for monthly filers; by the 20th after the quarter for quarterly filers — unless intra-EU goods exceed €50,000 in the current quarter or any of the previous four, which switches a quarterly filer to monthly under art. 30.º(2) RITI. It covers intra-EU goods and B2B services taxed in the customer’s state. The exempt goods also go in field 7 of the periodic return.
Only filed for periods with reportable operations€10,000 for the whole of the EU
The most misread number in European VAT. It is not per country, and it is not generous.
| Situation | Whose VAT | How it is declared | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| B2B goods, valid VIES number, proof, statement | Exempt in Portugal | Field 7 + recapitulative statement | Art. 14.º(1)(a) RITI |
| B2B services | Customer, by reverse charge | Recapitulative statement | Art. 6.º(6)(a) CIVA |
| B2C goods or e-services, EU total ≤ €10,000 | Portugal, 23% | Periodic return | Directive arts. 14(4), 59c |
| B2C goods or e-services, EU total > €10,000 | Customer’s country | OSS, quarterly | Directive arts. 369a–369k |
| B2C general services (consulting, etc.) | Portugal, 23% | Periodic return | Art. 6.º(6)(b) CIVA |
| Business with no valid number | Portugal, 23% | Periodic return | Condition of art. 14.º not met |
The €10,000 adds together distance sales of goods and electronic, telecom and broadcasting services to consumers in every other member state, in the current or previous year. Destination VAT applies from the sale that crosses it. Below it you may still opt for destination VAT, and the option binds for two years.
The OSS is what makes this survivable. One registration in Portugal, one quarterly return covering every member state, due by the end of the month after the quarter — 30 April, 31 July, 31 October, 31 January — with the date never moving for a weekend. You charge each customer’s rate, pay the total to Portugal, and Portugal redistributes it. Two things it does not do: it does not recover input VAT, which stays in your Portuguese return, and it does not forgive nil quarters — a return is due even when you sold nothing. Records must be kept for ten years.
The exemption that blocks the exemption, and the 2030 rebuild
- The art. 53.º CIVA exemption covers turnover in Portugal of up to €15,000; exceeding it by more than 25% ends it during the year.
- Art. 14.º(7) RITI now bars businesses in that scheme from the intra-EU goods exemption altogether.
- For selling abroad there is the cross-border SME scheme: EU turnover up to €100,000, prior notice to the tax authority, an EX number, and quarterly reports.
- Portugal transposed it in DL 35/2025, which describes the transposition as partial.
- Adopted 11 March 2025, in force 14 April 2025.
- 1 January 2027: OSS corrections and its interplay with the SME scheme.
- 1 July 2028: wider OSS, including transfers of own goods, and mandatory reverse charge for non-established suppliers.
- 1 July 2030: structured e-invoicing and near-real-time digital reporting for intra-EU B2B, replacing the recapitulative statement.
- Portuguese implementing legislation has not yet been published.
- Portugal — RITI arts. 7.º-A, 14.º, 23.º, 27.º, 30.º, 31.º; CIVA arts. 6.º, 18.º, 29.º, 31.º, 32.º, 36.º, 53.º, 58.º-A–58.º-C; Lei 49/2020; DL 35/2025; Ofício-Circulado 30225/2020; RGIT art. 117.º; AT newsletter of January 2026.
- EU — Directive 2006/112/EC arts. 14(4), 17a, 36a, 44, 59c, 138, 196, 369a–369k; Directive 2018/1910; Regulation 282/2011 art. 45a; Directive 2020/285; Directive 2025/516 and Regulations 2025/517 and 2025/518; Commission OSS guidance.
Limits we state rather than hide. Madeira’s reduced rate appears as 4% in most sources and 5% in one; we use 4%. The current wording of art. 117.º RGIT was read in a 2019 consolidation. The exact Portal das Finanças path for OSS registration and the VIES activation procedure are described from practice and secondary sources rather than from a published AT instruction.
What exporters ask after the first audit letter
Do I charge VAT when my Portuguese company sells goods to a business in another EU country?
No, provided four things hold at once: the customer gives you a VAT number valid in VIES, the goods physically leave Portugal for another member state, you can prove the transport, and you file the recapitulative statement. The exemption is article 14.º(1)(a) of the RITI and the invoice must say «Isento – artigo 14.º do RITI». If any of the four fails, the supply is taxed in Portugal at 23%.
Is a valid VIES number really a condition, or just good practice?
A condition. Directive 2018/1910, transposed in Portugal by Lei 49/2020 with effect from 1 January 2020, made the customer's VAT number valid in VIES a substantive requirement of the exemption. Before 2020 the courts often treated it as a formality that could be cured by other evidence of business status. That argument is now much weaker. Check every customer in the European Commission's VIES tool and keep the consultation number.
What happens if I forget the recapitulative statement?
Two things. There is a fine under article 117.º of the RGIT, between 150 and 3,750 euros. More importantly, article 14.º(2) of the RITI removes the exemption itself when the statement is not filed, unless you justify and correct the omission. So a missed filing can turn a zero-rated sale into a 23% liability.
When is the recapitulative statement due in Portugal?
By the 20th of the month following the period. Monthly VAT filers report monthly. Quarterly filers report quarterly, unless their intra-EU supplies of goods exceed 50,000 euros in the current quarter or in any of the previous four, in which case article 30.º(2) of the RITI switches them to monthly. It covers both intra-EU goods and B2B services taxed in the customer's state.
Is my Portuguese VAT number automatically valid for intra-EU trade?
No. A Portuguese NIF is not in VIES by default. You declare that you will carry out intra-EU operations, either on the start-of-activity declaration under article 31.º of the CIVA or later on an alterations declaration under article 32.º, through the Portal das Finanças. Do it before the first intra-EU sale; a customer checking your number in VIES will otherwise see it as invalid.
How do I invoice B2B services to a client in another EU country?
Without Portuguese VAT. Under article 6.º(6)(a) of the CIVA a B2B service is supplied where the business customer is established, and the customer accounts for the VAT by reverse charge. The invoice must carry the wording «IVA – autoliquidação» and the customer's VAT number. The service also goes in the recapitulative statement.
What is the €10,000 threshold for selling to consumers in other EU countries?
A single EU-wide limit, not one per country. It covers distance sales of goods and electronic, telecommunications and broadcasting services to consumers in all other member states together, in the current or the previous calendar year. Up to 10,000 euros you charge Portuguese VAT. From the sale that crosses it, you charge the VAT of each customer's country.
How does the OSS work for a Portuguese company?
You register once in Portugal for the OSS Union scheme and declare all your cross-border consumer sales in one quarterly return, due by the end of the month after the quarter: 30 April, 31 July, 31 October and 31 January. You charge each customer's national rate, pay the total to Portugal, and Portugal passes it on. Nil returns are compulsory, the deadline does not move for weekends, input VAT is not recovered through it, and records are kept for ten years.
Can a small business under the €15,000 exemption sell to other EU countries?
Not with the intra-EU goods exemption: article 14.º(7) of the RITI, added by DL 35/2025, excludes businesses under the article 53.º CIVA scheme from it. For selling into other member states without registering there, Portugal has transposed the cross-border SME scheme: with EU turnover of up to 100,000 euros and prior notice to the tax authority you receive an EX number and can use each destination state's own small-business exemption.
What changes with ViDA?
VAT in the Digital Age, Directive 2025/516, adopted on 11 March 2025, rebuilds intra-EU reporting. From 1 July 2028 the OSS is extended and reverse charge becomes mandatory for non-established suppliers. From 1 July 2030 intra-EU B2B transactions need structured electronic invoices and near-real-time digital reporting, which replace the recapitulative statement. Portugal has not yet published its implementing legislation.
Zero rate is a process, not a line on the invoice
We activate your VIES status, check every customer number with a consultation record, keep the two transport documents on file, file the recapitulative statements and the OSS on their own calendars, and get the invoice wording right on every line. If one leg of the exemption is missing, we find it before the auditor does.