Derogation of banking secrecy

The Tax administration has the power to access all banking information and documents and is not contingent upon any previous consent from the holder of the account and protected information:

• When there is evidence of tax fraud;
• When there is evidence of the lack of veracity regarding the filed tax return, or when the tax return does not comply with the necessary requirements;
• When there is evidence of unjustified increase in wealth;
• For the purposes of confirming information submitted in the supplemental documents of the taxable entities under the organized accounting regime;
• When the need exists to control the basis for privileged tax regimes that a taxable entity benefits from;
• When it is not possible to verify the direct and exact quantification of taxable items, and in general, when the grounds for a request of evaluation have been checked.

The tax administration also has the power to directly access bank documents, in situations of refusal of disclosure or authorization to review documents by family members or third parties that have a special relationship with the taxable entity.

All of the above referenced actions are subject to legal appeal.

In this context, we advise all of our clients to solely perform bank transactions related to the licensed activities of their companies in Portugal, which should be duly reported and fully supported with documents by the company.