News from afpop

Good afternoon to you all and welcome to the first Member Briefing of February. For those new Members who haven’t received these News from afpop e-mails before, they are sent every two weeks to all Members who want them and include information that we have encountered which we believe will either generally affect Members’ lives or be of interest to those in specific regions. For example, in this week’s Briefing you will see a warning from Finanças about fraudulent e-mails and information about cancer screenings which most Members might be interested in and an article about transport problems in Coimbra. We do try to find information about services around Portugal which will affect Members in specific areas, but these Briefings are not social updates. However, we do look for things that might be interesting and we will include such items from time to time.

I also wanted to take a moment to mention our social media sites, which we are looking to develop this year, in an effort to raise awareness of the Association amongst non-members who are looking for information and might not know about afpop. If you have Facebook or Instagram, which are the two that we are focussing on to begin with, please take a moment to follow those two afpop sites which you can find on Facebook and Instagram. We will have more about our social media output over the coming months. 

I highlighted the new Member Portal to you all last week and mentioned that there were still a couple of updates to be finalised. One of those has now been completed and if you visit the website from now on and your Membership is due to be paid, you will see a burgundy reminder bar to advise you that your renewal request has been sent to you. Please check your e-mails and remember that both Members in a joint Membership will receive the reminder, so please ensure that only one of you actually makes the payment. If you click on the reminder bar it will take you directly to the ‘checkout’ and give details of how you can make your payment, which are PayPal, credit card or bank transfer and the details for each are included.

Finally for this week, I know that there are Members who have questions about the Alojamento Local (AL) changes and I'm pleased to say that the tourism board have an event that you might want to attend. The details are included below and so here is this week’s information, beginning with the fraud warning from Finanças (AT):

1. AT alert

The Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira (Tax and Customs Authority) posted the following warning:

“It has come to our attention that some taxpayers are receiving emails supposedly from the AT, via a file transfer site called WeTransfer, in which they are asked to click on a link.

The aim is to convince the recipient to access malicious pages by clicking on the links.

These messages are fake and should be deleted.”

2.  Online criminal record

European Union citizens are now able to authenticate themselves in the digital service of the online criminal record using the European electronic identity recognition system (eIDAS). Any European or other foreign citizens who have a digital mobile key (Chave Móvel Digital – CMD) can now request their certificate HERE.

This measure aims to strengthen the accessibility and digitalisation of public services, promoting a more agile and safe experience for all users. 

From checking the system in house, it appears that there are two types of searches, the basic search to see if there are any records on your file and a more in-depth search for those requiring a criminal record search for a specific reason, such as working with children etc. That certificate will be sent by e-mail when requested.

How can you request a criminal record certificate?

• If you are a Portuguese citizen, authenticate with your citizen’s card (using a data card reader and enter your authentication PIN given with your Portuguese Cartão de Cidadão), or with the Digital Mobile Key (Chave Móvel Digital - CMD).

• If you are a citizen of a Member State of the European Union, you can authenticate yourself with your national ID card, checking beforehand whether your country has joined eIDAS (European electronic identity recognition system).

• If you are a citizen of a third nation state and have a CMD, you can also check your criminal record status in Portugal by logging in using the CMD details. 

The payment of the due fee can be made by several methods, although payment by bank transfer is not possible. The certificate will be available on the Portal (on your reserved area ‘MY REQUESTS’, by previous authentication), as soon as it is issued.

3. Alojamento Local (AL) open session in English

The Algarve Tourism Board have asked us to inform our Members about an open session in English, for foreign short-term rental operators in the Algarve, on the 12th of February from 11h00 – 12h00 in Faro. This session will help to clarify the main questions about the new rules for AL. Registration to attend is required. Further information and registration HERE.

4.  LPCC screenings calendar

The Liga Portuguesa Contra o Cancro (LPCC) is offering a free trial to residents, who fulfil the criteria, under the subject Early Diagnosis of Skin/Oral Cancer. You can register HERE and also see dates and locations where national screenings are taking place.

The site doesn’t have all pages in English (https://www.ligacontracancro.pt/english/ ) however it is quite easy to navigate. You can also help this noble cause, donations are very welcome (select your municipality and choose the payment method).

Please note, if registration is not yet open, only the date and location will be displayed.

Contacts for registration are made available at least one week in advance of the date of the action. 

5. New MBWAY transfer limits

Members who use the MBWAY app for transferring funds might not be aware that transfer limits between users was actually increased in 2024, but for some unknown reasons the fact hasn’t been made more public until recently.

The transfer limit was increased significantly and it is now possible to receive up to €5000 per month, to a maximum of 50 operations and it is now possible to send up to a maximum of €2000 per transfer, which is a significant increase to the previous limit of €750. Of course you are also able to set general monthly limits for your own account.

If you exceed the monthly limit that you set in the MB WAY app, your payment will simply be declined. In this case you can adjust the monthly limit in the MB WAY app, up to a maximum amount of €2400.

The purchase limit is monthly and resets on the 1st of each month.

6. Household and e-Fatura communication deadlines - reminder

This is the time of the year where Members need to consult and update data relating to their household (Agregado Familiar) on the Finanças Portal. Changes can be made to any personal information that has occurred, such as new children, marriage, divorce etc, the deadline for which is the 17^th of February.

Hopefully you will have made several visits to the e-Fatura platform to validate expenses registered in 2024. If you haven't done so, please bear in mind that the deadline is until the 25th of February. Tax invoices for 2024 that are not validated/confirmed by the taxpayer will not be considered by the Tax Authority and this will have an impact on your IRS declaration.

Currently, the categories/sectors included in the e-Fatura where taxpayers can deduct expenses are: General family expenses (others as supermarket, fuel expenses, etc.) Health, Education, Housing (Real Estate), Care Homes, Car Repair, Motorcycle Repair, Catering and Accommodation, Hairdressers and Beauty Institutes, Veterinary Activities, Collective public transport (monthly passes or tickets), Gyms, Newspapers and Magazines and Domestic work.

The process is simple, and you only need to allocate the expense to the category correspondent (if it has not already been allocated automatically by the portal). 

Do not be concerned if you don't find in the system the charges reimbursed by insurers, user fees or health insurance premiums by the validation deadline. These expenses are directly

accounted for by the Tax Authority and will be available for consultation in the e-Fatura only between 15^th – 31^st of March

6.  Bus strike Coimbra

The Municipal Urban Transport Services of Coimbra (SMTUC) has announced that the National Union of Workers (STAL) has called a strike for Monday 10th and Tuesday the 11th of February. 

You can find the latest information and routes on the SMTUC App for mobile phones (for Android and iOS platforms) or website.

8.  Aljezur swimming pools closed

The Aljezur Municipal swimming pools will be closed until at least 17th of February after the bacteria legionella non pneumophila was detected during a routine analysis in the showers of two changing rooms. 

9. AFPOP Presents… 

We would like to remind Members about our information session in Cascais on the subject of Mental Health - "Spotting the signs, Dispelling the myths", in conjunction with the Alzheimer Portugal Association. The presentation will take place in Cascais on the 4th of April, in the morning time. If you live in the Lisbon area or surroundings and have not yet booked your place, there is still time to do so.

Please note that this is open to anyone who is interested and not only afpop Members. There is a ten-euro charge for non-members, which will be donated the Alzheimer’s Portugal.

Places can be reserved by contacting Marisa on apoio@afpop.com Please see the article in the February edition of UPDATE, which will be with Members around the 25^th of February.

10. Satellite Offices 

If you need advice or assistance, wish to introduce a new Member to the Association, need to renew your subscription or just have a general query, please pass by and see us. We ask you to make an appointment and to inform us about your enquiry, so staff can come prepared to assist you. Please contact the afpop office to make an appointment on 282 458 509 or info@afpop.com.   

The next dates of the Satellites are:

• Almancil - Tuesday 25^th of February between 10h00 and 12h30 (premises of MEDAL Seguros)

• Lagos - Wednesday 26^th of February between 10h00 and 12h30 (premises of MediLagos on R. José Ferreira Canelas, which is behind the Câmara building)