eFatura: How to Read Your Expense Statement (2026 Guide)

A pharmacy receipt shows up in eFatura. The category field says Pendente. Is it health? Is it cosmetics? The system doesn't know, and it won't guess. You have until February 25 to tell it.

That's the core mechanic of e-Fatura: Portal das Finanças collects every invoice associated with your NIF and uses them to calculate your IRS deductions. The system does a lot automatically. But some of it requires you to log in for ten days in February and make decisions.

This is what those decisions actually look like.

TL;DR

eFatura collects all invoices issued to your NIF by Portuguese merchants. Between February 15 and 25 each year, you log in and categorize anything AT couldn't sort automatically. Categories map to different IRS deductions with different rates and caps. The data flows into Anexo H of your Modelo 3 filing.

If you're a freelancer on Categoria B, eFatura works double duty: personal expenses (health, education) feed into Anexo H deductions, and business expenses classified as professional also count toward the 15% documented expense requirement. Those two flows are separate. Invoices from foreign providers don't appear in eFatura at all. Those need to be tracked and declared manually.

The annual window is short. Miss February 25 and you're filing with whatever AT assigned automatically, right or wrong.

What eFatura actually is

When you buy something in Portugal and give your NIF, the merchant's invoicing software reports that transaction to AT. It lands in your eFatura account, tagged with a category based on the merchant's registered business activity. Health clinic → Saúde. School fees → Educação. Most of the time the category lands in the right place.

Sometimes it doesn't. Pharmacies sell prescription medication and shampoo. A venue might run events and a café in the same space. AT can't always determine the correct category from the business code alone, so those invoices sit as pendente until you review them.

The data feeds directly into Anexo H of your IRS Modelo 3, the deductions section. AT pre-fills it based on what eFatura has at the time you file. Wrong categorization means wrong deductions, which means you either overpay or file incorrectly.

The categories and 2026 deduction caps

Each category has its own deduction rate and annual ceiling. The €250 cap for exigência de fatura was explicitly confirmed in OE2026 (Lei 73-A/2025), which also added cultural expenses to that bucket. All other figures below are per current CIRS rules. Verify against the current budget law if you're reading this for a tax year other than 2026.

Category	How the deduction is calculated	2026 annual cap
Saúde (Health)	15% of total expenses	€1,000
Educação (Education)	30% of total expenses	€800/student (1st–2nd level); higher for university
Lares (Senior care)	25% of total expenses	Varies by care type
Habitação (Housing: rent)	15% of rent paid	Depends on income bracket
Exigência de fatura (Restaurants, hairdressers, car repair, vet, accommodation)	15% of the IVA on invoices	€250
Cultural (Books, theatre, concerts, museums; new 2026)	15% of the IVA on invoices	Counts toward the €250 cap

Notice the distinction in the last two rows. Health and education deductions are calculated on the total expense amount. The exigência de fatura and cultural categories work differently: you only get 15% of the VAT component. More on why that matters in a moment.

The status flow: pendente, validada, final

Every invoice in eFatura has a status. These are the three you'll encounter:

Pendente: the invoice exists but hasn't been assigned a category. Either AT couldn't determine it automatically, or the merchant reported it in a way that left it ambiguous.

Validada: the invoice has been reviewed and confirmed in a category. Either AT assigned it automatically without dispute, or you assigned it manually during the review window.

Final: the record is locked. This happens after February 25, when AT closes categorization for that fiscal year.

The practical window is February 15–25. Log in, find everything labeled pendente, assign each one a category, confirm. A second window runs until March 31 to review and confirm the Anexo H pre-fill before you file. But the categorization itself closes at February 25.

Pending invoices: when to assign, when to leave them

Not every pending invoice needs you to do something.

Pharmacies are the most common ambiguous case. Prescription medication is Saúde. Over-the-counter products, vitamins, and cosmetics are Outros (general). The pharmacy may report a mixed basket as a single invoice. Assign based on what you actually bought. When genuinely unsure, Outros is the safer default. Miscategorizing something as health and getting it queried is worse than underusing the health deduction.

Multi-service businesses: a restaurant with an events function, a sports club with a café. Assign based on what you actually paid for.

Invoices you don't recognize: check the merchant's NIF before flagging them as errors. Sometimes it's a corporate parent behind a familiar brand. If it genuinely looks wrong, the system lets you dispute it.

Correctly-categorized invoices showing as validada: leave them. Don't touch what AT already got right.

Cat. A vs Cat. B: how the math differs

For employees (Category A), eFatura deductions are the whole story. Health bills, tuition fees, rent: these flow into Anexo H and reduce IRS. Full stop.

Freelancers on regime simplificado issuing Recibos Verdes have a second layer.

Under the simplified regime, AT applies a coefficient of 0.75 to services income, meaning 75% of your gross is taxable and 25% is assumed to cover business costs. But that assumption has a condition attached: you must prove at least 15% of gross income in documented expenses. Fall short and the gap gets added back as taxable income.

Your eFatura professional expenses count toward this 15% requirement. Not your health expenses, not your restaurant meals: only expenses classified as professional in eFatura. Business software, professional services, office supplies, subscriptions. Social Security contributions also count, and often cover most of the requirement automatically.

This is a completely separate flow from Anexo H. A dentist bill with your NIF goes into Saúde, reduces your IRS through Anexo H, and does nothing for the 15% rule. A software subscription for your business goes into professional expenses, counts toward the 15%, and lands on Anexo B.

The 15% expense rule explainer covers the full calculation with worked examples.

Foreign invoices: the gap

eFatura only captures invoices from Portuguese merchants reporting to AT. Pay a subscription to a Swedish tool, book a flight through a non-Portuguese site, hire a contractor based abroad: none of it shows up in your eFatura account.

For employees, this rarely matters much. For freelancers (Cat. B), it can. Foreign professional expenses (software, cloud services, equipment ordered from abroad) are legitimate business costs but need to be tracked manually and declared separately on your IRS return. They don't auto-fill anywhere.

If your primary business expenses are foreign, eFatura won't be much help for proving the 15%. You'll need to maintain separate records and present them when filing. A short folder of foreign invoices, kept throughout the year, makes this straightforward.

The two deduction mechanics

This is where most explanations either gloss over or get wrong.

Health and education deductions work on the total expense amount. Spend €400 at the dentist, get €60 back (15% of €400). Pay €500 in university fees, get €150 back (30% of €500). The deduction is calculated against the full invoice.

The exigência de fatura and cultural categories work on the IVA component only. Restaurants, hairdressers, car repair, vets, accommodation, and now books and theatre tickets: for all of these, you get 15% of the IVA amount shown on the invoice. Not 15% of the total.

Restaurant meals in Portugal carry 13% IVA (the intermediate rate; see VAT rates in Portugal for the full breakdown by sector). A €50 restaurant meal has €5.75 in IVA. Your deduction is 15% of €5.75 (about €0.86). The deductions accumulate across all your restaurant and hairdresser invoices for the year, but you cap at €250 total.

The practical difference: a €500 dental bill generates €75 in IRS credits. €500 in restaurant meals across a year generates roughly €10. Both categories appear in Anexo H. The formula is completely different.

New for 2026: books, theatre tickets, concert tickets, museum entries, and similar cultural expenses now also feed into the 15%-of-IVA mechanic. They don't get a separate ceiling. They count toward the same €250 cap as restaurants and hairdressers. So if you've already maxed the €250 on restaurant meals, adding book purchases doesn't open new credit.

Common misconceptions

"I'm a freelancer; eFatura doesn't matter for my taxes." It matters in two ways. Personal expenses reduce IRS through Anexo H. Business expenses help satisfy the 15% documented expense rule. Ignoring eFatura means leaving deductions on the table and potentially underproviding the 15% proof.

"All my expenses in eFatura will be deducted." Only the ones associated with your NIF, correctly categorized, within the relevant cap. Expenses over the cap don't create additional deductions. Expenses in the wrong category may be counted under the wrong rate.

"My accountant handles my IRS, so I don't need to review eFatura." Your accountant works with what AT has in Anexo H. What AT puts in Anexo H comes from eFatura. If eFatura has wrong categories, the pre-fill is wrong, and your accountant files those wrong numbers unless they manually override them. The review step is yours to do, regardless of who files your return.

"Foreign receipts work the same as Portuguese ones." They don't appear in eFatura at all. If they're business expenses, track them separately. They don't auto-flow anywhere.

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Frequently asked questions

When do I need to categorize my eFatura expenses? Between February 15 and 25. That's when AT opens the categorization window before data feeds into Anexo H. A second window runs until March 31 to confirm the pre-filled deductions. Miss February 25 and you're working with whatever AT assigned automatically.

What does "pendente" mean in eFatura? The invoice exists but hasn't been categorized yet. Usually AT couldn't determine the category from the merchant's business code. You assign the correct category and it moves to validada. Pharmacies and multi-service venues are the most common cases.

What is the exigência de fatura deduction exactly? A credit equal to 15% of the IVA (VAT) shown on invoices from restaurants, hairdressers, car repair, veterinary services, and accommodation. From 2026, also books, theatre, concerts, and museums. The combined annual cap is €250. Not 15% of the total bill: 15% of the VAT portion only.

Do I need to give my NIF at restaurants? Yes. No NIF on the invoice means it doesn't appear in eFatura. No eFatura record means no deduction. This applies to every category.

I'm a freelancer (Cat. B). Does eFatura work differently for me? Yes. Personal expenses feed into Anexo H the same as for an employee. Business expenses classified as professional in eFatura also count toward the 15% documented expense requirement: tracked on Anexo B, not Anexo H. The two flows are entirely separate.

Do foreign expenses appear in eFatura? No. Only invoices from Portuguese merchants reporting to AT appear. Foreign SaaS subscriptions, services from abroad, purchases outside Portugal: none of it auto-fills. For Cat. B, those expenses still count if you declare them separately.

What happens if I categorize something wrong? After February 25, categories lock. You can still override the pre-filled Anexo H values manually when filing Modelo 3 (until June 30), but you need documentation to support it. Getting it right in February is cleaner.

The health deduction and the restaurant deduction: same formula? No. Health is 15% of the total expense amount. Education is 30% of the total expense amount. Restaurants are 15% of the IVA component only. A €500 dental bill generates €75 in credits. €500 in restaurant meals at 13% VAT generates roughly €10. Both land in Anexo H. Different math entirely.

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If you want to understand how eFatura professional expenses factor into the 15% proof requirement, the 15% expense rule covers the full calculation. When you're ready to file, the IRS filing guide walks through every annex. And if you want to see what last year's declaration actually contained, the IRS declaration reader translates every campo into something you can read.