There is just over a month left before the deadline for validating invoices on the Finance Portal and, for many taxpayers, this is the decisive moment that could make the difference between paying more tax or receiving a higher refund. Validation of expenses is mandatory for the tax authorities to consider tax deductions, and anyone who leaves this step undone risks losing hundreds of euros without realizing it.
Taxpayers have until March 2 to confirm and classify invoices associated with their tax identification number. According to Notícias ao Minuto, every year there are thousands of people who miss deductions due to simple forgetfulness or lack of knowledge of how the e-Fatura platform works.
The deadline is ticking and validation is decisive for the IRS
Invoice validation is neither a technical detail nor an optional step. Only correctly classified expenses are considered by the Tax Authority in the final IRS calculation. This means that health, education, housing or nursing expenses may simply not count if they remain pending in the system.
According to DECO PROteste, this is one of the most common errors and also one of the most penalizing for taxpayers’ pockets.
No password on the Finance Portal, nothing done
The first step is to guarantee access to the Finance Portal. Anyone who does not yet have a password should request it as soon as possible, not only for themselves, but also for all members of the household, including children. The password is sent to the tax residence and, if it is expired, it can be changed directly on the portal.
Without this credential, it is not possible to access e-Fatura or validate expenses.
Where to see how much you have already accumulated in deductions
After logging into e-Fatura, you must select the option “IRS deductible expenses” and authenticate yourself as the purchaser. The amount already accumulated per category appears on the next screen, allowing you to see if there is still room to increase deductions.
According to the same source, if the taxpayer has already reached 715 euros in general family expenses, it no longer makes sense to worry about supermarket bills, electricity or clothing, since this ceiling can no longer be exceeded.
When you have already reached the limit and can ignore certain invoices
This point is important to avoid unnecessary work. If a category has already reached the maximum deduction limit, new invoices in that area will have no impact on the IRS. However, this does not apply to the categories of health, education, housing and homes, which have their own rules.
Pending invoices: the mistake that loses the most money
The real risk is in the so-called outstanding invoices. These arise when the trader carries out several economic activities and the system is unable to automatically assign the expense to a category.
In these cases, it is up to the taxpayer to click on “Complement Invoice Information” and manually indicate the nature of the expense. If you don’t, the invoice may simply not count to the IRS.
VAT that counts and many taxpayers forget
In addition to classic deductions, the system allows you to recover part of the VAT incurred in several areas. According to the consumer protection organization, 15% of VAT is deductible on expenses such as restaurants, accommodation, hairdressers, workshops and gyms.
Veterinarians and veterinary medicines allow you to deduct 35% of VAT, while subscriptions to newspapers, magazines and monthly passes give you the right to deduct the entire tax paid.
Expenses that only enter the IRS if they are confirmed
None of this is automatic if the invoice is not correctly classified. The Tax Authority only considers expenses validated until the end of the legal deadline. After that, there are no fixes possible, even if the error is obvious.
What happens if you don’t validate everything by March 2nd?
Anyone who misses the deadline definitively loses the right to these deductions in the 2025 IRS, relating to 2024 income. There is no mechanism for subsequent recovery, neither when filing a complaint nor when submitting the declaration.
Just a few minutes can now make a difference in your refund
Validating invoices may seem like a bureaucratic task, but it only takes a few minutes to ensure that all expenses count. In a context of pressure on the cost of living, every euro recovered makes a difference.
As , this is one of those cases where attention to detail pays off and where delay can be costly.
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