Paperless invoice is “in a phase of massification”, says Secretary of State Digitalization

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The Secretary of State for Digitalization, Mário Campolargo, told Lusa today that the paperless invoice is “in a phase of massification”, and the Secretary of State for Taxes, Nuno Félix, said that this transition will be “gradual”.

The two Secretaries of State and the President of the AMA – Agency for Administrative Modernization, João Dias, participated today in a public initiative on the paperless invoice, which took place at the Livraria Barata in Lisbon.

Speaking to Lusa on the sidelines of the event, the Secretary of State for Digitization and Administrative Modernization, Mário Campolargo, stressed that the importance of the paperless invoice “is almost obvious”, namely because “generally” the invoice “is almost a demonstration of bureaucracy”, where it is necessary to keep it to claim or exchange something purchased from the merchant.

In other words, “the invoice was introduced as something on paper, but today we are bringing people into the digital world”, so that the invoices accumulated at home, in the wallet or in a drawer can now be “within reach of our cell phone” at any time and whenever it is necessary, continued the Governor.

Mário Campolargo
Mário Campolargo

This “introduces a great simplification for the citizen, but also for merchants”, who no longer have to store and print “a very large set of invoices”, reducing printing and consumables costs, said Mário Campolargo.

For the paperless invoice, the consumer will have to go to the portal eportugal.gov.pt, join the paperless invoice and request that the invoices be sent directly to the “email”.

“That is, with the merchant the consumer does not have to give information that is absolutely confidential, therefore does not have to give an ’email’ to the knowledge of the company that sells a service or product, because it is linked in a way that is not known,” he explained.

So, “confidentiality, there is an important aspect of privacy and, above all, the sending of this information is encrypted and only the citizen himself knows where this information is received.

In addition, “we have several mechanisms inherent to the paperless bill that even allow the citizen himself to integrate a PIN to be able to read this information,” he stressed.

The Governor pointed out that “the State is developing a solution here, with the participation of private entities, that will give a digital dimension to the entire ecosystem that produces invoices in Portugal.

From the moment the “email” is given, “the process is completely transparent and automatic, and this is particularly important because it guarantees precisely this privacy and also ensures that the service or product provider does not have access” to the email address, Campolargo pointed out.

The system is available “at this moment and we are now in a phase of massification”, which involves “greater adherence by consumers and also the adherence of those who sell services” and also by billing companies that implement this system automatically “so that there is no cost to anyone in this process.

Basically, it is “bringing digital into the daily life of the Portuguese” and it is also “daring” on the day that also celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of writer and poet Natália Correia.

To demonstrate the service, the biography of Natália Correia by Filipa Martins, a writer born on September 13, 1923, was purchased.

What “we are presenting here today is a platform of the Agency for Administrative Modernization [AMA] that will essentially facilitate the fulfillment by companies of the requirements to provide paperless invoices to their customers,” Nuno Félix told journalists on the sidelines of the event.

Asked about the expectation of adhesion, Nuno Félix pointed out that Portugal “has been an example in terms of digital transition in many areas.

The use of the paperless bill also has an environmental impact, namely when we talk about sustainable development goals, the need to combat climate change, added the Secretary of State for Finance, considering that in this area “there is a very strong mobilization of the State, companies” and now families are also invited “to participate in this transition.

Asked about the impact of this measure on the older sectors of society, Nuno Félix stressed that it is “an option, it’s a facility, it’s something that is made available to citizens.

Therefore, “of course, those who continue to prefer or need paper will have that option,” he stressed, pointing out that this is “a transition that will be made with some gradualism.

These transformations “do not happen overnight, but are gradual processes in which the role of the State has been to create the necessary conditions for this to happen,” concluded Nuno Félix.

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