The Portuguese AL Compliance Calendar: Every Deadline Your Airbnb Property Faces Each Month

Published: March 2026 | Reading time: 8 min | Category: Compliance

Running an Alojamento Local (AL) in Portugal is not just about managing bookings and guests. There is a parallel system of government obligations running every single month — and missing any one of them can lead to fines, suspended licenses, or worse.

This calendar maps every recurring deadline a Portuguese short-term rental host faces throughout the year. Bookmark it. Your accountant will thank you.

Why This Matters More Than Ever in 2026

Since Decree-Law No. 76/2024 came into force in November 2024, the AL regulatory framework has been significantly tightened. Municipalities now have greater enforcement powers, and the era of informal compliance is over. Lisbon and Porto have introduced stricter containment zones, and non-compliance with reporting obligations is being actively penalised.

Airbnb is not a compliance platform. It handles bookings and payouts — nothing else. Every obligation below is your responsibility as the host.

The Five Portals Behind Every Deadline

Before the calendar, it helps to know which portal governs which obligation:

• Portal das Finanças — Tax declarations, invoice issuance, VAT returns, IRS/IRC filing

• INE — Monthly tourism statistics (guest nights, nationalities, occupancy)

• SIBA / AIMA — Guest identity registration for security purposes (formerly SEF)

• Turismo de Portugal / RNAL — AL license registry and registration maintenance

• e-Fatura — Invoice validation and expense association with your NIF

Monthly Obligations (Recurring Every Month)

By the 20th of each month — INE Tourism Statistics

Every AL operator must submit monthly occupancy data to INE (Instituto Nacional de Estatística) covering:

• Number of guests hosted

• Total guest nights

• Guest nationalities

This must be submitted even if you had zero guests. A blank month is not an excuse to skip the report — it is itself the report. Missing submissions are among the most common compliance failures for Portuguese hosts.

Easy AI automates this entirely — it pulls your booking data and pre-fills the INE submission for your review.

By the 20th of each month — e-Fatura SAF-T (if applicable)

If you have not issued digital invoices through Portal das Finanças for the previous month's stays, you must submit the SAF-T file (electronic accounting data) to the Finance Department by the 20th.

Most AL hosts avoid this by issuing invoices directly through the portal as each stay occurs. If you are not doing this yet, setting it up as a habit is strongly recommended.

Within 3 days of each guest arrival — SIBA Guest Registration

For every non-Portuguese guest, you must register their identity data with SIBA (Sistema de Informação de Boletins de Alojamento), now managed by AIMA (formerly SEF). This includes:

• Full name

• Nationality

• Passport or ID number

• Arrival date and length of stay

This is the obligation with the highest legal risk if missed. Common mistakes include relying on Airbnb messages to collect guest data, missing one guest in a group booking, and having no proof of submission saved.

Quarterly Obligations

VAT Return — Quarterly (if revenue under €650,000/year)

If you are registered for VAT (IVA), you must file a periodic VAT return through Portal das Finanças. For most AL operators with annual revenue under €650,000, this is quarterly.

The applicable VAT rate for short-term tourist accommodation in Portugal is 6%.

Non-residents operating AL properties are required to register for VAT and file returns regardless of revenue level. This also applies to the reverse-charge VAT on Airbnb's platform commissions, which are subject to 23% VAT that must be reported (though it typically washes out as it can be simultaneously deducted).

Model 30 — Within 2 months of each platform commission payment

If you are listing on Airbnb, Booking.com, or similar non-Portuguese platforms, you must submit Model 30 to the tax authorities. This declares income paid to non-resident entities (the platforms).

You should also hold Form RFI-21 from the platform to claim the double taxation treaty relief between Portugal and Ireland (for Airbnb), avoiding unnecessary withholding tax at 25%.

Annual Obligations

February — e-Fatura Invoice Validation Deadline

Before filing your annual IRS return, all invoices associated with your NIF must be validated in e-Fatura. This affects your deductions. Missing this window means losing deductions that cannot be recovered later.

Check the portal in January — the exact date varies year to year but typically falls in late February.

February — Agregado Familiar Update

If your household composition changed during the previous year (new dependent, change in marital status), you must update it on Portal das Finanças before the filing window opens. This affects how your income is assessed.

April 1 – June 30 — IRS / Modelo 3 Annual Tax Return

The Portuguese income tax return (Modelo 3) covers the previous calendar year and must be filed between 1 April and 30 June.

For AL hosts, key considerations include:

• Category B vs Category F — how your rental income is classified affects your effective tax rate significantly. This is one of the most consequential decisions you make each year and is worth discussing with an accountant.

• Simplified Regime coefficient — under the simplified regime, 35% of your AL income is considered taxable profit. However, if your property is in a contenção (containment) zone in Lisbon or Porto, this coefficient rises to 50%.

• Non-residents pay a flat rate of 25% on Portuguese AL income.

May (and August/November for larger amounts) — IMI Property Tax

IMI (Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis) is Portugal's municipal property tax, charged on the taxable asset value (VPT) of the property at a rate set by each municipality (typically 0.3%–0.45%).

Payment schedule:

• Single instalment in May — if total IMI is under €100

• Two instalments (May + November) — if between €100 and €500

• Three instalments (May + August + November) — if over €500

Ongoing — Tourist Tax Remittance (if applicable)

Several municipalities charge a tourist tax per guest per night. In Lisbon and Porto, this applies to most AL properties. You collect it from guests (Airbnb handles collection in most cases) and must remit it to the relevant municipality on their defined schedule.

Check your specific municipality's rules — rates and remittance deadlines vary.

Your Compliance Calendar at a Glance

The Human Cost of Managing This Manually

Most hosts either pay an accountant several hundred euros a month to handle this, try to manage it themselves with spreadsheets and calendar reminders, or — most commonly — fall behind and face penalties they didn't see coming.

The INE report alone takes 15–20 minutes each month to do manually. SIBA registration per guest is another few minutes of form-filling per stay. Over a year with 80–100 guest stays, that adds up to hours of admin that generates zero revenue.

Eazy AL automates the INE monthly submission and is building automation for the SIBA guest registration and Finanças reporting flows — so you can focus on the parts of hosting that actually need a human.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Airbnb submit any of these reports on my behalf? No. Airbnb handles bookings, messaging, payments, and (in some cities) tourist tax collection. All compliance reporting — INE, SIBA, Finanças — is the host's responsibility.

What happens if I miss an INE submission? INE can issue fines for missed or late submissions. Beyond the fine, repeated non-compliance creates a record that can complicate your relationship with the AL license authority.

I had no guests this month. Do I still need to submit to INE? Yes. A zero-guest month must still be reported. The report itself is the obligation, not just the data.

Is the compliance burden different for non-residents? Yes — non-residents must register for VAT regardless of revenue level, are taxed at a flat 25% on AL income, and still carry all the same monthly/annual reporting obligations.

Want this handled automatically? See how EazyAL AI works →