Notice No. 1/2024

Notice No. 1/2024 Published in: DR, 2nd Series, Part E, No. 26, of 06-02-2024 Mod. 99999939/T – 01/14

Index Text of the Notice

Text of the Notice

The 2024 State Budget Law (Law No. 82/2023, of 29 December) introduced amendments to the General Tax Law, approved in annex to Decree-Law No. 398/98, of 17 December, particularly to its Article 40, relating to payment and other forms of extinction of tax liabilities.

According to the introduced amendment, the payment, by legal entities, of tax liabilities and any other credits collected by the Tax and Customs Authority, must be exclusively made by electronic payment means, regardless of whether specific payment means are provided for in the special legislation relating to each tax.

The concern of market participants regarding the existence of amount limits in payments to the State had already been identified within the framework of the National Strategy for Retail Payments, recognizing the need to flex these limits in order to allow legal and natural persons to make high-amount payments to the State.

With the aim of aligning banking practice with the 2024 State Budget Law and continuing the implementation of the National Strategy for Retail Payments, it is necessary to restrict the existence of amount limits applied by payment service providers to electronic payment operations, when the State is the beneficiary.

This Notice was exempted from hearing interested parties, in accordance with the letter a) of paragraph 3 of Article 100 of the Administrative Procedure Code.

Thus, in the exercise of the competence conferred upon it by Article 14 of its Organic Law, approved by Law No. 5/98, of 31 January, the Bank of Portugal determines:

Article 1. Object

This Notice regulates the application, by payment service providers, of amount limits to electronic payment operations where the Tax and Customs Authority and the Public Debt and Treasury Management Agency - IGCP, E.P.E. are beneficiaries.

Notice No. 1/2024 Mod. 99999939/T – 01/14

Article 2. Recipients

The recipients of this Notice are payment service providers established in Portugal.

Article 3. Risk management limits

Payment service providers established in Portugal shall not apply any amount limits to electronic payment operations where the Tax and Customs Authority and the Public Debt and Treasury Management Agency - IGCP, E.P.E. are beneficiaries, which shall be able to be ordered by payment service users up to the maximum unit amount authorized by each payment model and system.

Article 4. Entry into force

This Notice enters into force ten business days after its publication.