Pay Portuguese Tax Bills from Your Bank App (2026)
Paying IRS, IMI and IUC from your bank app or MB WAY - the three values every payment needs, what to do when a reference expires, paying from a foreign account, and direct debit.
Contents
- What can be paid at AT
- How do I pay a Portuguese tax bill from my bank app?
- What if the payment reference has expired?
- How do I pay Portuguese taxes from a foreign bank account?
- Path B - Set up direct debit (recommended)
- Important: direct debit doesn’t pre-authorize unknown charges
- What happens if you owe and don’t pay
- Splitting IMI into installments
- When direct debit might fail
- When you actually want to pay manually
- Sources
Portuguese tax bills come in three main flavours - annual IRS settlement, IUC (vehicle tax), and IMI (property tax) - plus quarterly Social Security if you’re a freelancer. All four can be paid by Multibanco reference, MB WAY, or direct debit. Setting up direct debit takes 5 minutes once and saves a lifetime of “did I pay that?” mental load.
This guide covers paying a one-off bill and setting up automatic payments at AT.
What can be paid at AT
| Tax | When | Direct debit available? |
|---|---|---|
| IRS (annual settlement) | Aug-Sep after filing | ✅ |
| IUC (Imposto Único de Circulação - vehicle tax) | Annual, in the car’s registration-anniversary month | ✅ |
| IMI (Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis - property) | May / Aug / Nov (split) | ✅ |
| IMT (property purchase) | One-time at acquisition | ❌ (manual) |
| IRC (corporate tax) | Annual + interim | ✅ |
| Late-payment surcharges | When applicable | ❌ |
Social Security has its own direct debit setup at SS Direta - see the quarterly declaration guide for that.
How do I pay a Portuguese tax bill from my bank app?
Open your bank’s app, find Pagamentos → Pagamentos ao Estado (state payments), and enter the three values printed on any Portuguese tax bill - Entidade, Referência and Montante - exactly as shown; every Portuguese bank app, MB WAY, homebanking site and Multibanco ATM uses this same mechanism for every tax. The steps below show where those three values come from.
Find the bill in your conta-corrente ↗
Log in. Navigate to: Os seus serviços → Pagamentos → Conta-corrente
Pending bills are listed with:
- Tax type (IRS / IUC / IMI / etc.)
- Reference number
- Amount due
- Due date
Click on the bill you want to pay.
Cidadãos › Pagamentos › Conta-corrente
Pagamentos pendentes
IRS - liquidação 2025
€442.18 · vence 31-Ago-2026
IUC - viatura XX-XX-XX
€156.30 · vence 30-Set-2026
IMI - 1.ª prestação 2026
€312.50 · pago em 31-Mai-2026
Schematic - actual UI may differ. Illustrates layout, not exact pixels.
Get the Multibanco payment reference
AT shows three pieces of info for any bill:
- Entidade - 5-digit number (always starts with
1xxxx) - Referência - 9-digit reference unique to this payment
- Montante - exact amount
These three values together identify your specific payment. Save them - they’re what you’ll enter at any Multibanco ATM, MB WAY app, or internet banking.
Pay via your preferred channel
Three options:
Your bank’s app / internet banking (Millennium, Santander, NovoBanco, BPI, Caixa Geral, ActivoBank, Revolut PT, etc.):
- Log in → Pagamentos → Pagamentos ao Estado / Pagamento de Serviços
- Enter the three values
- Confirm
MB WAY app (most banks support this):
- Open MB WAY → Pagar → Pagamento ao Estado
- Enter the three values
- Confirm with PIN / Face ID
Multibanco ATM:
- Insert your card → Outros operações → Pagamentos → Pagamento ao Estado
- Enter Entidade, Referência, Montante exactly as shown
- Confirm - instant payment
Payments reflect on your AT conta-corrente within 1-2 business days. One practical note: app payment limits vary by bank, and a four-figure IRS settlement can exceed an MB WAY per-transaction limit - if the app refuses a large bill, pay the same reference through the bank’s own homebanking site or an ATM instead.
What if the payment reference has expired?
Generate a fresh one on the portal - references printed on paper or sitting in old emails have validity windows, and an expired reference is simply rejected at payment time. For most bills the current reference is always available in the conta-corrente (Os seus serviços → Pagamentos); for IUC specifically, you can emit a new DUC (Documento Único de Cobrança) any time under Todos os Serviços → IUC. Two cautions:
- If the due date has passed, don’t keep paying the old paper - the amount owed changes once interest starts accruing. Regenerate the document so the montante is current.
- Never pay a tax reference that arrived by email or SMS without matching it against the conta-corrente first - payment-reference phishing is common precisely because the three-value mechanism is so trusted.
How do I pay Portuguese taxes from a foreign bank account?
Two official routes: SEPA direct debit from an account in any SEPA country, or an international bank transfer to the Portuguese treasury (IGCP) quoting your payment reference. The AT documents both on its official page, Como pagar impostos no Estrangeiro.
- SEPA direct debit on a non-Portuguese IBAN works, with one extra step: the AT requires prior confirmation that the account is yours - a certificate of account ownership sent by your bank directly to the AT’s email address listed on that page. After that, the normal direct-debit setup below applies.
- Bank transfer from anywhere: instruct your bank to transfer to the IGCP account, including the payment reference from your tax document so the money lands on the right bill, and send it at least 2 business days before the deadline (the AT’s own recommendation).
Path B - Set up direct debit (recommended)
Navigate to 'Aderir a débito direto'
Path: Os seus serviços → Pagamentos → Débito Direto → Aderir
AT shows a list of tax types that support direct debit. You can enable any combination - most common is IRS + IUC + IMI all at once.
Provide your IBAN
- IBAN of your Portuguese bank account
- Nome do titular - must match the IBAN holder
AT generates a SEPA mandate for your bank, which authorizes AT to pull the exact tax amount on the due date.
Cidadãos › Pagamentos › Débito Direto › Aderir
Aderir a débito direto
Tipo de imposto
IRS, IUC, IMI ▾
IBAN
PT50 0033 0000 0000 0000 0000 1
Titular da conta
Nome do contribuinte
Aceito as condições do mandato SEPA
Confirmado
Schematic - actual UI may differ. Illustrates layout, not exact pixels.
Confirm - direct debit is active
AT registers the mandate immediately. From this point:
- Future tax bills are auto-paid on their due dates
- Your bank statement shows the debit with reference “AT - IRS / IUC / IMI”
- You still get the conta-corrente notification, but it shows “PAID AUTOMATICALLY”
To cancel later: same path, click “Cancelar adesão”. Takes effect for the next billing cycle.
Important: direct debit doesn’t pre-authorize unknown charges
The SEPA mandate is specific to known tax types (IRS, IUC, IMI, etc.). AT can only pull amounts assessed against you for those specific taxes. They cannot:
- Pull arbitrary amounts
- Pull for other tax types not on your mandate
- Pull from a closed/different bank account
If AT tries to debit and your account has insufficient funds, the bank rejects it; AT then sends a normal payment notice with the standard 30-day grace period before late fees kick in. No risk of unauthorized overdraft.
What happens if you owe and don’t pay
| Day | What |
|---|---|
| Due date | Direct debit pulls (if set up) OR manual payment due |
| +1 day | If unpaid: AT sends notice via Portal das Finanças |
| +30 days | Grace period ends. Late fee (€25-€80 fixed) added. |
| +60 days | 4% annual interest accrues on outstanding balance |
| +90 days | Possibility of collection action (bank account freeze, salary garnishment). Rare for small amounts but happens. |
| Subsequently | Compromises citizenship/residency renewals - AT shows pending debt on the certidão de não dívida |
Setting up direct debit eliminates 95% of this risk.
Splitting IMI into installments
If your IMI exceeds €100/year, AT auto-splits into two payments (May + November). Above €500, three payments (May + August + November). Direct debit handles all three automatically.
If you’d rather pay all at once: opt for “pagamento integral” via the conta-corrente before May’s first installment is due. Saves bank processing time but doesn’t change the amount.
When direct debit might fail
The SEPA pull can be rejected by your bank if:
- Insufficient funds on the due date
- Account closed or frozen
- Mandate revoked at the bank side without telling AT
If a debit is rejected, AT sends you a normal payment notice. You then have the standard window to pay manually before late fees apply. Not a disaster, but check your account balance the day before each major tax due date if you’re running close to the line.
When you actually want to pay manually
A few cases where direct debit isn’t the move:
- Cash flow tightness - if you’d rather control the timing of large payments (e.g., €3k IRS settlement) to align with cash flow, manual is better
- Disputed amounts - if you’re contesting a bill, don’t auto-pay it; pay only what’s not disputed
- Strange or unfamiliar bills - verify the source before paying. Direct debit pulls automatically; you’d rather catch a wrong bill before AT takes the money
Sources
Try the numbers for your situation
Run your own scenario in the calculator.
Free. Same engine that powers the examples in this article.
Open calculator →One short email before each major Portuguese tax deadline.
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