1. Procedural aspects
    1. 1. At what date does DAC6 start being implemented in your country? Did your country opt to defer the implementation of the Directive pursuant to Council Directive (EU) 2020/876 of 24 June 2020?
    2. 2. What is the form of the declaration which must be sent to the tax authorities?
    3. 3. Does your country require other information than that provided by the Directive to be declared?
    4. 4. Does your country provide for a waiver or a specific treatment for intermediaries enjoying legal privilege?
    5. 5. Have specific rules been enacted in your country to deal with cases where several intermediaries are subject to the reporting obligation?
    6. 6. What are the penalties for failure to report?
  2. Specifities regarding reportable arrangements
    1. 1. Does your domestic legislation lay down reporting obligations in purely domestic situations?
    2. 2. Does your domestic legislation extend the scope of the reporting obligation to taxes which are not contemplated by the Directive (e.g. VAT)?
    3. 3. Does your domestic legislation provide for hallmarks which do not exist in the Directive?

chapter

DAC6 in Portugal

Procedural aspects

1. At what date does DAC6 start being implemented in your country? Did your country opt to defer the implementation of the Directive pursuant to Council Directive (EU) 2020/876 of 24 June 2020?

DAC 6 was transposed to Portuguese legislation by Law no 26/2020, of 21 July (which entered into force on 22 July 2020 and is effective from 1 July 2020), but the relevant deadlines were postponed for six months by Decree-Law no 53/2020, of 11 August (which transposes Council Directive (EU) 2020/876 of 24 June 2020).

Therefore, the reporting deadlines will be as follows:

  • for cross-border arrangements within the transitional period (between 25 June 2018 and 30 June 2020) – 28 February 2021;
  • for arrangements occurring between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2020 – 30 days from 1 January 2021; and
  • for arrangements occurred after 1 January 2020 – 30 days from the arrangement.

It should be noted that intermediaries benefiting from a legal or contractual privilege should inform the taxpayer that it should report the relevant arrangement in the following deadlines:

  • for cross-border arrangements within the transitional period (between 25 June 2018 and 30 June 2020) – until 1 December 2020;
  • for arrangements occurred between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2020 – 5 days from 1 January 2021; and
  • for arrangements occurred after 1 January 2021 – 5 days from the arrangement.

In these cases, the relevant taxpayer will have 30 days to report the arrangement (if the taxpayer fails to comply then the intermediary should report the arrangement, within the following 10 days).

2. What is the form of the declaration which must be sent to the tax authorities?

At this stage, no forms of the declaration (or guidelines or instructions) have been made available by the Portuguese tax authorities. They are expected to be published in the coming months.

3. Does your country require other information than that provided by the Directive to be declared?

No.

Portuguese law establishes a compromise solution according to which intermediaries benefiting from legal or contractual professional privilege will only have a subsidiary obligation to report, making the taxpayer primarily responsible for reporting the arrangements.

The relevant intermediary should inform the taxpayer that he should report the arrangement, the taxpayer should provide evidence to the intermediary that the arrangement was duly reported, and in case the taxpayer fails to comply or provide evidence to the intermediary, then the intermediary should report the arrangement.

5. Have specific rules been enacted in your country to deal with cases where several intermediaries are subject to the reporting obligation?

Under Portuguese law, all intermediaries involved in a certain arrangement are subject to reporting obligations. However, intermediaries may be exempt from reporting if the relevant reporting obligations have already been complied with by another intermediary, provided that the corresponding proof of compliance is duly made before the Portuguese tax authorities.

6. What are the penalties for failure to report?

According to Portuguese law, penalties for lack of compliance may range from EUR 2,000–80,000. These limits can double in case of wilful misconduct and go up to EUR 160,000.

Penalties should apply per infraction, which means that each unreported, delayed or inaccurate report, and also each failure or delay in providing additional information, may be subject to a singular penalty.

Specifities regarding reportable arrangements

This part aims at identifying statutory rules which depart from the Directive.

1. Does your domestic legislation lay down reporting obligations in purely domestic situations?

Yes. Domestic arrangements are defined as arrangements aimed to be applied or produce effects entirely or partially in Portugal, provided that they do not fall within the definition of cross-border arrangements.

2. Does your domestic legislation extend the scope of the reporting obligation to taxes which are not contemplated by the Directive (e.g. VAT)?

Yes, regarding domestic arrangements. In Portugal, the reporting obligations related to domestic arrangements apply to personal income tax, corporate income tax, VAT, property tax, real estate transfer tax and stamp tax.

3. Does your domestic legislation provide for hallmarks which do not exist in the Directive?

No. However, generic hallmarks linked to the main benefit test (known as Category A) will not apply to domestic transactions.