Tax makes inspections on the beaches and detects invoice problems

A operation “Mar à Vista”, as this action of “sensitization and supervision” was baptized during the summer, began on 29 July and will extend by the month of September, to “promote voluntary compliance with tax obligations through direct contact with economic operators” of concessions on the beaches, explains the Ministry of Finance in a statement.

So far, the Tax and Customs Authority (AT) has placed 63 inspectors on the ground, who carry out tax controls in conjunction with 58 Maritime Police operatives.

Over the past month, the tax inspectors have traveled the beaches of the districts of Aveiro, Beja, Coimbra, Faro, Leiria, Lisbon, Porto, Setúbal and Viana do Castelo, having identified “a number of infringements, particularly related to the lack of invoices and the use of billing programs that do not meet the legal requirements”.

In the statement, the ministry that protects the tax office does not detail how many actions it has carried out – only dozens – nor does it specify the number of identified infringements.

According to Finance, the operation has allowed direct contact with concession establishments, raising awareness to economic operators “for the importance of billing and proper compliance with legal obligations associated with the activity carried out”.

With this operation, AT seeks to contribute to a “strengthening of tax justice” and “fair competition conditions among economic operators”.

The “Mar à Vista” action was initiated at a time of transition from the leadership of the TA.

The tax officer has been director-general since August 1st Mário Campos, who after ten years as deputy director-general of the area of tax information systems succeeded Helena Borges in charge of the tax administration.