As with passes, it is now possible to deduct all the VAT paid on the purchase of occasional tickets for public transport via IRS.
The approval of the State Budget for 2023 (OE 2023) brought a novelty that went unnoticed by many: the inclusion of occasional tickets for public transportation in IRS deductions, similarly to what already happened with passes.
According to IRS Codehouseholds can now deduct all the VAT paid on the purchase of single or occasional tickets for public transport for IRS purposes, up to a limit of 250 euros per household. This includes urban and suburban transport, and travel tickets such as those you buy from Metro or CP machines, as well as sales zapping that you load on a Navigator card. This VAT deduction was already possible in monthly passesas the Navegante passes.
In the law, it can be read that it is "deductible from assessment (...) an amount corresponding to 100% of the VAT incurred by any member of the household with the purchase of monthly passes or tickets for the use of collective public transport"with an overall limit of 250 euros per household. To be able to deduct VAT, tickets and passes "shall be issued by public passenger transport operators" with one of these economic activity codes (CAEs): 49310, 49391, 49392, 50102 e 50300.
This may mean that not all companies that carry passengers will offer passengers the possibility of deducting their tickets in IRS. For example, Rede Expressos has its activity identified with CAE 52213 ("other activities auxiliary to land transport"), so trips on this long-distance service will be left out of this measure; while its main competitor, FlixBus, is registered in Portugal with CAEs 49310 ("passenger land transport, urban and suburban") and 49391 ("interurban bus transport"), in addition to CAE 52213, so it is expected that the tickets it sells may be deductible.
In any case, to take advantage of this tax benefit, taxpayers have to link their TIN when buying the occasional tickets, just as they already do with monthly passes. Then, they must check on the portal or application e-invoice the invoices associated with those purchases, which should be in the "Monthly Passes" category. If the invoices are not automatically channeled to this section, you must classify them. By entering the public transportation invoices with your VAT number in the "Monthly Passes" section of the e-invoice, all the VAT paid on the purchase of this type of tickets will be deductible to the IRS.
