Four times a year, the quarterly VAT declaration appears in the calendar as a task you’d rather ignore. When you’re a freelancer in the standard VAT regime, you need to declare the VAT you’ve charged — and remit it to the state on time.
With FIZ, that task ceases to exist. The system handles everything.
Who needs to submit the VAT declaration?
There’s an important distinction here.
If your turnover in Portuguese territory stayed up to €15,000 last year (the Article 53 threshold — operations located outside Portugal, such as B2B services to EU companies, don’t count towards this limit), you’re VAT-exempt. You don’t charge VAT to clients — and you don’t submit the quarterly declaration for your sales either. Article 59 of the VAT Code expressly waives that obligation. Day to day, your VAT duties come down to issuing invoices with the mention “IVA - regime de isenção” and keeping an eye on the threshold — what remains are the declarations of start, change and cessation of activity, plus one important exception: if you buy services from foreign suppliers (Google or Meta ads, Upwork), you must self-assess the VAT and file a declaration for that period — see the reverse-charge trap.
If you’re in the standard regime — because your invoicing crossed the threshold (the transition rules are below) or because you opted into it — you charge VAT at 23% (or a reduced rate for some services) and must submit the periodic declaration every quarter — even in quarters where you invoiced nothing.
In short: the regular quarterly declaration is for those who charge VAT. If you’re exempt under Article 53, there’s no regular declaration for your own sales — only the self-assessment filing for each period in which you buy services from abroad. We’ve put together a step-by-step guide to the quarterly VAT return for anyone filing it for the first time.
The deadlines you can’t miss
The quarterly VAT declaration must be submitted, as a rule, by the 20th of the 2nd month following the end of each quarter (Q2 has an extended deadline of 20 September — art. 41.º n.º 10) — and the payment made by the 25th of the same month:
- 20 May — declaration for Q1 (January–March), payment by 25 May
- 20 September — declaration for Q2 (April–June), payment by 25 September
- 20 November — declaration for Q3 (July–September), payment by 25 November
- 20 February — declaration for Q4 (October–December), payment by 25 February
Missing a deadline means a fine. And the fines arrive before you realise you forgot.
What happens without FIZ
Without help, the quarterly VAT declaration requires you to:
- Log into the Portal das Finanças
- Gather all invoices for the quarter
- Total the VAT charged
- Check expenses with deductible VAT
- Fill in the periodic declaration form
- Submit by the 20th
- Pay by the 25th
Four times a year, without missing one.
How FIZ transforms the process
FIZ does everything for you.
If you’re VAT-exempt, there’s no regular declaration to file — and FIZ confirms that for you, instead of leaving you wondering. The system tracks your turnover in Portuguese territory against the €15,000 threshold and alerts you as you approach it. If you buy services from foreign suppliers, it also handles the self-assessment filing for each period with such purchases. Beyond that, zero VAT tasks.
If you charge VAT, FIZ:
- Aggregates all invoices for the quarter (because you issue them through FIZ)
- Totals the VAT charged to each client
- Fills in the periodic declaration with the correct figures
- Submits by the 20th
- Generates the payment reference so you can pay by the 25th
With the Auto plan, you don’t even receive a notification asking for confirmation — it happens automatically.
Warning: exempt doesn’t mean forgotten. If you cross the threshold, the rules change — and the very invoice that crosses it may already need to carry VAT. That’s the case we look at next.
Moving from exempt to VAT-registered
A special case FIZ also handles: when your turnover in Portuguese territory grows past the threshold. (Note: that’s the figure that counts — operations located outside Portugal, such as B2B services to EU companies, don’t enter these limits.)
The rules (Article 58 of the VAT Code) work like this:
- Passed €15,000 in Portuguese territory but stayed at or below €18,750? You remain exempt until the end of the year. The exemption ends on 1 January of the following year — and you have 15 working days, counted from the end of the year, to submit the declaration of changes.
- Exceeded €18,750 in Portuguese territory (the threshold plus 25%)? The exemption ceases at that moment — the invoice that crosses the line already carries VAT. You have 15 working days to submit the declaration of changes (declaração de alterações).
FIZ tracks your turnover in Portuguese territory and alerts you before you reach either limit — giving you time to inform clients and adjust your quotes, rather than discovering you’ve crossed the line when it’s already too late.
✅ In summary
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The regular quarterly VAT declaration is for those in the standard regime — if you’re exempt under Article 53 (turnover in Portuguese territory up to €15,000/year), you don’t file it for your own sales; you only file for the periods in which you self-assess VAT on purchases from foreign suppliers. The regular deadlines are 20 May, 20 September, 20 November and 20 February; payment runs until the 25th.
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Without help, that’s four times a year logging into the Portal das Finanças to fill in forms and verify figures manually.
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With FIZ it’s automatic — the system calculates, fills in, and submits the declaration before the deadline, without you needing to do anything. And if you’re exempt, it watches the €15,000 Portuguese-territory threshold for you and handles the self-assessment when needed.
