Customers of the water companies, electricity and telecommunications are not required to respond.

Barbara (his real name) received a questionnaire Galp to send information about your property, which then would be sent to the IRS. This is because the electricity supply companies, gas, water and telecommunications are, from the beginning of the year, required by law to submit that data to the Tax and Customs Authority (TA). In addition Galp, EDP is also making the same request to their customers. However, according to experts consulted by Economic, customers are not required to respond. That is, companies have to send the data to the tax authorities, but customers are not required to give the information requested.

This year, those companies were required to notify the AT information on new contracts with its customers, as well as changes or cancellations. Communications shall be made by 15 April, 15 July, 15 October and 15 January. The notification must contain the tax identification of the owner of the house, together with the beneficial owner (in case of a lease, for example), and more concrete data on the property. And it was this request that Carla received.

The purpose of the Treasury has to do with the fight against tax fraud and evasion, as this is a solution that allows you to identify leases that were not reported by taxpayers. If a house has contracts on behalf of a different contributors owner or his household may indicate the existence of leases which were not declared to the tax authorities.

However, tax experts contacted by the Economic claim that the law only requires companies to report data to the tax authorities, but does not require customers to respond to requests from them. According to a tax expert who declined to be identified, “filling in the questionnaires is not mandatory, these entities being only advantage to update their databases before comply with quarterly declarative obligation imposed on them.” On the contrary, the tax expert Nuno? Oliveira Garcia caveat that “companies are in a bind, became interim the IRS and to be required by law to send the data.” As for the obligation of taxpayers respond to common position is: “I do not see a clear obligation on the tax bill of the customers respond.”

Another operator who declined to be identified clarifies that, even if the client refuses to provide the information, it does not prevent the conclusion of the service delivery contract. However, the company will always have to report to the AT that it was not provided this information. Carla Galp questioned several times about whether he was legally obliged to answer.

After several responses, the company ended up by saying that “in the absence of information” for the contract, will “provide identification of clients and properties of all contracts concluded as from January 1, 2015 with the data we have received of each customer. ”

[Source]