Portugal Invoicing
Invoicing B2C digital content and services: customers in the EU outside Portugal
You sell downloads, subscriptions or automated access to consumers. Establish the service classification and customer location before configuring checkout, invoicing and the records that support each sale.
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A few details to understand your business and the next step.
Bertrand Jayol receives your enquiry for an initial assessment. Referral to the partner is considered with your agreement. Privacy
Identify the product and actual seller
Describe how customers receive the resource: a download, library access, online software or a service involving human work. Commercial labels such as course or subscription do not determine classification. Identify the seller named in the sales terms as well. If an intermediary resells the product, check that role in the agreement. The name appearing on a bank settlement is insufficient to reconstruct the sale, its customer or the responsibilities of the parties.
- Delivery method and the content of the offer.
- Consumer countries and available supporting information.
- Direct sale or distribution through an intermediary.
Locate the service before choosing its treatment
For cross-border B2C electronic services, the rule generally follows the consumer’s country. European sources also describe conditional exceptions and arrangements such as OSS. Check the complete criteria, including the seller’s establishment and relevant sales, before choosing the treatment. Digital content and human-delivered services do not become the same transaction merely because both are ordered on a website. Prepare customer-location evidence and the role of any intermediary as well, so checkout settings can be linked to the actual contractual and delivery arrangements.
Prepare a consistent invoice and supporting file
Connect each sale to an agreement or order, a period and evidence of delivery. Gather seller and customer identifiers, amounts, currency and payment terms. Have the VAT wording or applicable basis checked before reusing the template. Keep credit notes and corrections with the relevant invoice. A bank statement confirms a payment but does not, by itself, explain the service or its treatment. Test the document flow with one complete transaction before relying on it for a larger set of customers.
Keep the relevant information separated
Prepare the countries served, available customer-location evidence and sales for the relevant period. Any special scheme or exception needs review against its full conditions, rather than an improvised estimate. Separate automated digital sales, human-delivered services and reseller transactions. For cross-border consumer sales, OSS may be one of the arrangements to examine. Its scope should not automatically be extended to every income stream in the business or used as a substitute for identifying the seller.
Portugal
Before you incorporate
Registering as self-employed and incorporating a company are different routes. The choice depends on how your business actually operates. A Portuguese company alone does not determine your tax residence or the treatment of every source of income.
Information to gather
- Your country of residence and where you actually work.
- A description of the services or products you sell.
- Whether your customers are businesses or individuals, and their countries.
- Any shareholders, existing business structure and your planned timing.
Sources and references
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