The Evolution of the Collection of State Tax Revenue in Portugal with the Introduction of e-Invoicing

Abstract

The digital revolution has taken place in several areas and has been transversal in the Portuguese economy. Concerning the accounting area, it promoted the creation of new tools for processing information, increasing production capacity, automating processes for filling in tax returns and improving the information provided. The Tax Authority (AT) computerized its services, created new tax obligations, and automated the revenue collection process. Regarding tax obligations, the former highlighted the e-invoice system and a tax obligation for monthly communication of the turnover of economic agents with commercial activity. This obligation generated greater AT control over the effective delivery of Value Added Tax (VAT) by economic agents. The study of VAT is important because it is the (indirect) tax that has the greatest weight in the State's annual tax revenue. In light of the above, by interconnecting the digital evolution of the AT accounting sector and the evolution of the effective collection of tax revenue, this study aims to determine the advantages of the digital evolution and whether it provided an increase in tax revenue collected by the State. Thus, considering the advantages digital evolution has brought to the accounting area in general and the Tax Authority in particular, in this study we analysed the effect that the tax transformation had on VAT revenue, between the years 2012 and 2021. From the analysis conducted, we can conclude the State revenue from this tax increased. In general, the digital revolution has enabled accounting professionals with computer skills, and AT has changed its way of working with taxpayers.