The Council of Ministers has issued a resolution allowing the Tax and Customs Authority (AT) to allocate up to 14 million euros for the procurement of mobile voice and data services, fixed voice, and SMS services. This investment aims to enhance security access to the Finance Portal through a two-factor authentication system.
During a press conference on Thursday following the Council of Ministers meeting, António Leitão Amaro, Minister of the Presidency, emphasized that although the Finance Portal is crucial for the Portuguese, it currently lacks the level of security offered by two-factor authentication present in other services like banking.
Since July, the Finance Portal has implemented enhanced authentication, requiring a verification code sent via SMS for taxpayers to access their personal page.
The Ministry of Finance, in a note to Lusa at that time, detailed that enhanced authentication necessitates a two-factor verification process.
This feature, which taxpayers can opt into, adds an extra layer of protection for accessing the taxpayer’s reserved area on the Finance Portal, aiming to prevent unauthorized access, explained the Ministry overseeing the AT.
To enroll in two-factor authentication, citizens must have their phone contact registered and confirmed with the AT.
Once enrolled, whenever a taxpayer logs into the Finance Portal using their tax identification number (NIF) and password, the AT sends a unique verification code via SMS, which the taxpayer must enter to access their reserved area, the Ministry further stated.
Currently, individuals can access their personal area by entering their NIF and access code or authenticating with either their Citizen Card or Digital Mobile Key.
In the latter case, in addition to the code required for this functionality, a code is sent via SMS to the registered mobile, already involving two-factor authentication.
