The Law that approved the General State Budget for the economic year of 2019 (Law no. 18/18, 12.28) established in its article 17 that the regularization of fiscal, customs and social security debts, whose tax events occurred until 31 December 2017, are made without the payment of interest, fines and procedural costs.

This scheme does not apply to companies subject to the special tax regimes for oil and mining activities.

Adherence to this scheme must be made until June 30, 2019 (however as this day is not a business day, the last day of the term will be July 1, 2019), and may be required to pay taxes and contributions due, through monthly installment plans, provided that the total settlement of the debt is made up to December 31, 2019. For this purpose, full payment of the debt is assessed for each type of tax. If the taxpayer does not make the full payment of the debt until December 31, 2019, interest, fines and procedural costs will be applied in the general terms.

The accession procedures and of paying taxes and social security contributions are autonomous and distinct from each other and are treated in the respective Public Administration services.

The General Tax Administration (GTA) Circular no. 236 / DTF / DSF / AGT / 18 established the procedure for the operationalization of this exceptional regime.

Adherence to this scheme operates through the delivery of a request or form made available for this purpose, at the request of taxpayers who wish to adhere. After delivery of the application or form duly completed, a stamped copy will be delivered to the taxpayer, which serves as proof of the adherence.

Adherence to the Regime covers both the known debt, that is, already quantified and settled by the General Tax Administration, as well as the unknown debt, yet to be settled, but that the taxpayers declare, voluntarily and spontaneously, to be debtors.

In the case of debt that is unknown by the GTA, adherence to the Regime does not determine the debt verification by the GTA, and the payment must be made based on the amounts declared by the taxpayers. In this case, adherence to the Scheme does not exempt the taxpayer from being subject to a tax inspection procedure in general terms.

In cases where regularization does not imply payment of taxes or customs duties (eg. deliveries of declarations that are not taxable), it will be necessary for the taxpayer to expressly declare that he intends to adhere in order for the situation to be regularized under the Regime.

If the taxpayer chooses to pay in installments, he shall indicate the payment plan. The installments do not have to be of equal value, provided that the total amount of the debt is paid in full until December 31, 2019.

Whenever a taxpayer requests the accession to the Scheme, the responsible technician must consult the updated list of creditors to the State issued by the Public Debt Management Unit (PDMU), which shows the amount of the debt certified and not yet paid. If the adherent taxpayer is included in the updated list, the Scheme will operate, obligatorily, by compensation, only in respect of the certified part. The Scheme allows exclusively the offsetting of claims certified by the PDMU, so that the taxpayer must present the document proving the certification or that the certification is in process. The accession to the Regime, in the case of State creditors, within the term, determines the attribution of the benefit, although the certification of the credits by the PDMU will occur later than the period foreseen for the adherence, that is, the credits whose certification by PDMU is in process at the date of adhesion to the regularization regime benefit from the Scheme provided that the certification takes place until December 31, 2019. In these cases, the responsible technician notes that the Scheme is subject to the presentation of the certificate at the time that it will be issued, under penalty of persisting the tax debt in favor of the State in general terms. Adherence to the Regime is equivalent to a confession of debt by the adherent taxpayer, suspending any procedures and processes related to the debt that is intended to be regularized until December 31, 2019.