Customs Paperwork - Invoices
The invoice used depends on the kind of transaction that is taking place between the shipper and the consignee.
All customs-dutiable shipments must be accompanied by an DHL Express Waybill and an invoice at all times.
Customs Paperwork – our step-by-step guide
If you are a private sender and the shipment is non-commercial, for customs purposes you have to fill in the Declaration of Value and not an invoice.
If the shipment needs customs clearance, in addition to this declaration you have to provide a copy of the taxpayer and national identification cards of the sender.
If you are a company: follow these instructions on how to prepare correctly a Commercial Invoice, a Commercial Invoice with 3rd Party Billing or a Proforma Invoice.
If your shipment qualifies as a "formal export" (commercial trade, declared value equal or above 75 €, or weight above 20 Kg) then, in addition to the commercial invoice, you are also required to include a copy of the shipper's VAT number and the ID card. These documents are part of the file that will be presented to Customs.
Given the wide range of product categories that may be subject to the prior issue of an Export License, to assure the dispatch of shipments on the pick up day, we ask our customers to deliver a Dual-Use Goods Declaration, signed and stamped, that allows DHL to comply with legislation.
Please download here these Declarations:
Please download here these Declarations:
Link to useful information about this issue:
http://www.dgaiec.min-financas.pt/pt/licenciamento/bens_tecnologias_duplo_uso/
The following information applies only if you are a company; it will help you determine the type of invoice you must present to Customs:
These invoices are accepted as a permanent document as long as the material is being sent on the following assumptions:
- Gifts/Samples, the invoice must clearly indicate the reason for sending the goods free of charge. The reason can be one of the following: gifts publicity material, etc.
- Goods are being sent as part of a rental contract or on a loan, being the shipper the owner of goods. On this situation the material is shipped as a temporary export.
- Goods are being shipped to suffer a transformation on a 3rd party country and afterwards are to be sent back to Portugal. On this kind of trade a temporary export is impossible to make, because final transformed products can be shipped to a different location other than the shipper's one.
These invoices are accepted as a temporary document in the following situation:
There’s a commercial transaction between the shipper and the consignee and at the time of shipping the shipper does not have the final commercial invoice. Either way, the shipper has 5 days to present the commercial invoice (CIVA).
- Gifts/Samples, the invoice must clearly indicate the reason for sending the goods free of charge. The reason can be one of the following: gifts publicity material, etc.
- Goods are being sent as part of a rental contract or on a loan, being the shipper the owner of goods. On this situation the material is shipped as a temporary export.
- Goods are being shipped to suffer a transformation on a 3rd party country and afterwards are to be sent back to Portugal. On this kind of trade a temporary export is impossible to make, because final transformed products can be shipped to a different location other than the shipper's one.
These invoices are accepted as a temporary document in the following situation:
There’s a commercial transaction between the shipper and the consignee and at the time of shipping the shipper does not have the final commercial invoice. Either way, the shipper has 5 days to present the commercial invoice (CIVA).
Important information when creating proforma Invoices:
While shipping material free of charge (not sold to the consignee), a commercial invoice must be sent together with the parcel, but the information “Value for Customs Purposes Only” must be put on the invoice. This information automatically classifies the invoice as a Proforma. These invoices have exactly the same information as the commercial ones, the difference is the situations in which each invoice is used.
Shipments containing samples being sold to the consignee can be sent with a proforma invoice, as long as the goods contain different specifications (different size or format) as the final product they represent. Books, records, publications, cassettes or other sound records are a exception since they cannot be sent with a proforma. We suggest that if the material being sent are samples sold to the consignee, a proforma invoice should be used (this invoice should be used for all the shipments with a value declared lower than 75 EUR and weight less than 20Kg). For higher values or weight a commercial invoice must be made with the information “value without payment” or “value for customs purpose only”
Just like commercial invoices, Proforma invoices must be numbered.
Whenever the material is being returned because it’s damaged, defective, broken and as part of a warranty contract, the invoice must be replaced by a repair guide. (Article 35 nº3 CIVA).
This repair guide must be created on the shipper's letterhead, must be dated, signed and numbered, must have the Shipper's VAT number, description of contents, and must always mention the invoice that was used when material was imported. Customs may request copy of the import invoice.
While shipping material free of charge (not sold to the consignee), a commercial invoice must be sent together with the parcel, but the information “Value for Customs Purposes Only” must be put on the invoice. This information automatically classifies the invoice as a Proforma. These invoices have exactly the same information as the commercial ones, the difference is the situations in which each invoice is used.
Shipments containing samples being sold to the consignee can be sent with a proforma invoice, as long as the goods contain different specifications (different size or format) as the final product they represent. Books, records, publications, cassettes or other sound records are a exception since they cannot be sent with a proforma. We suggest that if the material being sent are samples sold to the consignee, a proforma invoice should be used (this invoice should be used for all the shipments with a value declared lower than 75 EUR and weight less than 20Kg). For higher values or weight a commercial invoice must be made with the information “value without payment” or “value for customs purpose only”
Just like commercial invoices, Proforma invoices must be numbered.
Whenever the material is being returned because it’s damaged, defective, broken and as part of a warranty contract, the invoice must be replaced by a repair guide. (Article 35 nº3 CIVA).
This repair guide must be created on the shipper's letterhead, must be dated, signed and numbered, must have the Shipper's VAT number, description of contents, and must always mention the invoice that was used when material was imported. Customs may request copy of the import invoice.
These invoices are used when the shipper is selling the goods to the consignee. These invoices must be numbered and printed on the shipper’s letterhead (billing software), except if the shipper is an individual. If that’s the case the invoice/receipt is needed as well as the shipper's VAT number.
If you are sending a commercial shipment with a commercial value but the cost of the shipment is being paid by someone else other than the shipper or receiver, you must print an invoice using your own company billing software because the invoices printed on the DHL Web site are not accepted by customs.
To allow our customers to request exemption of VAT (IVA) near regulatory entities (Direcção Geral de Contribuições e Impostos) they must present the DU (documento único) to regulatory entities, DHL will perform a formal clearance for all the shipments that are sent to 3rd party countries and that are sent with a commercial invoice (Independent of the value declared).
All the shipments with a value higher than 75 EUR and a weight above 20 Kg are submitted to a formal Export clearance.
To allow our customers to request exemption of VAT (IVA) near regulatory entities (Direcção Geral de Contribuições e Impostos) they must present the DU (documento único) to regulatory entities, DHL will perform a formal clearance for all the shipments that are sent to 3rd party countries and that are sent with a commercial invoice (Independent of the value declared).
All the shipments with a value higher than 75 EUR and a weight above 20 Kg are submitted to a formal Export clearance.
Note: Invoices created on the DHL Web site can only be used if the shipment is being sent by an individual not by a company. If the shipment is being sent by a company, a commercial or proforma invoice must be created using the company's own billing software.
