Decree-Law n-º 44/2022 of 8 July, introduced significant changes to the General Tax Law, which meet the technological evolution, justified by the need to modernize the means of communication between citizens with the Tax Authority.

With the amendment of the General Tax Law, the obligation to appoint a tax representative is now waived for taxable persons residing abroad or who are absent from the national territory for more than six months, provided that the taxable persons adhere to any of the channels dematerialized notification.
There are currently 3 channels of dematerialized notification:

1. Public service of electronic notifications associated with the single digital address (MUD);
2. Electronic notifications and citations system on the Finance portal;
3. Electronic mailbox.

After joining a dematerialized notification channel, taxable persons residing outside the European Union, or the European Economic Area can only cancel their membership if they appoint a tax representative in Portugal.
Failure to comply with the appointment of a tax representative, when mandatory, as well as the declaration of express acceptance by the representative, is punishable by a fine ranging from €75 to €7,500, with the taxable person being unable to exercise his rights with the tax.
The introduction of these changes in the General Tax Law, makes it possible to simplify the relationship of taxable persons with the Tax Authority, being a huge advantage for many taxable persons who no longer need to resort to third parties to represent them at tax level in Portugal, and are no longer dependent on, they can exercise their tax rights and duties in full.

You can learn more about this and other legislative changes with the help of the Castilho International Legal Corporation team.