Portugal

The Portuguese government completed implementation of the EAR on 9 September 2015, when the Portuguese legislators adopted Law 140/2015 on the reform of the Decree on Statutory Audit and Law 148/2015 on supervision of the audit profession. The new rules will become effective on 17 June 2016.

The main elements of Portugal’s audit law are the following:

  • Mandatory audit firm rotation must take place every 8 or 9 years.
  • Portugal does not allow the extension of this period by tender or joint audit.
  • Key audit partners must rotate after 7 years.
  • No additional items have been added to the EU list of prohibited non-audit services.
  • Portugal has not made use of its option to allow certain tax and valuation services at the same time that audit services are being provided.
  • The fee cap for non-audit services is placed at 30 %, stricter than the EU baseline proposal.

For a more detailed overview of Portugal’s implementation measures, please consult our information sheet.

Document

Information Sheet - The Portuguese Audit Law