Preparations in Portugal for the mandatory ATCUD code in 2023

Because 2023 is rapidly approaching, it is necessary to remind everyone that the ATCUD code will be mandatory to implement beginning in January 2023. In other words, ATCUD must obligatorily appear, and be in perfect legibility, on all invoices and other tax-relevant documents, whether issued by invoicing software programs, other electronic means (such as cash registers, electronic terminals, or electronic scales), or pre-printed documents in typography autorized. In documents with more than one page, the ATCUD must appear on all of them and, when applicable, immediately above the QR code. The ATCUD code can be used now because it is still voluntary, but it will become mandatory in 2023.

We can define the unique document code (ATCUD) as a code that makes it possible to uniquely identify a document, regardless of its issuer, type, and series used. ATCUD is a mandatory measure enacted by Decree-Law No. 28/2019 on February 15, 2019, and subsequently regulated by Ordinance No. 195/2020 on August 13, 2020.

Before starting the invoicing process, taxable persons must electronically communicate to the Tax Authority (AT) the identification of the series used in issuing invoices, for each establishment and the means of processing used. Also, for each series of documents, AT assigns a code, which must be part of the document's unique code.

The first step is to prepare the conditions so that billing software can register a series through an authorized user. To do so, the user must access the Finance Portal, ensure access to 'WSE" (Communication and Series Management) by Web Service as one of the authorized operations for that user, and perform other mandatory requirements.