According to articles 67 and 70 of the University Teaching Career Statute (ECDU) and article 52 of the Scientific Research Career Statute (ECIC), career teachers and researchers, as a general rule, perform their duties on the basis of exclusive dedication, in which case they refrain from exercising any remunerated function or activity, public or private, including the exercise of a liberal profession.
On the other hand, doctoral researchers hired under Decree-Law No. 57/2016 of 29 August, as amended by Decree-Law No. 57/2017 of 19 July, also perform their duties, as a rule, on an exclusive dedication basis, renouncing, in this situation, the exercise of any remunerated function or activity, public or private, including the exercise of a liberal profession (see article 7).
In this sense, Article 3 of Decree-Law No 1/83 of 3 January establishes the obligation for staff belonging to professions whose regulations provide for the possibility of working in an exclusive dedication regime to submit a copy of their personal income tax return for the year in which they were in an exclusive dedication regime, duly authenticated by the tax office, to the competent services of the institution to which they are attached.
In addition, Article 23(3) of the General Law on Public Employment (LTFP) requires that holders of managerial positions, on pain of dismissal from the service, carry out a check on the existence of an unauthorised accumulation of functions and monitor strict compliance with the guarantees of impartiality in the exercise of public functions.
In view of these provisions, the UC and, in particular, its managers, including the Rector, as the highest representative of this institution, have a legal obligation to monitor the exclusive dedication regime of these employees, in particular by adopting effective mechanisms, as has been requested and audited by the Court of Auditors, which has supervisory powers in this matter.
The exclusive dedication regime monitoring process applies to employees in university teaching careers, scientific research careers and employees hired under Decree-Law No. 57/2016 of 29 August, as amended by Decree-Law No. 57/2017 of 19 July (hiring regime for doctoral researchers).
The Exclusive Dedication Scheme is set up on an annual basis, so compliance will be monitored annually, aligned with the calendar year.
Employees covered by this scheme must submit one of the following documents to the Human Resources Department (SGRH)
1. A copy of the tax return (model 3), duly validated by the Tax Agency (AT), including the relevant annexes for income from dependent activities (category A), business and professional income (category B) and income received abroad (annex J), with electronic proof of validation, preferably with the removal of identifying elements and/or income that does not relate to the individual, if applicable;
or, alternatively,
2. A certificate issued and authenticated by the tax authority stating or proving the existence or otherwise of category A and B income, including any income obtained abroad (Appendix J).
Note: SGRH will carry out a thorough examination of the documents submitted on a case-by-case basis. Therefore, in cases where additional income beyond that provided by this university is identified, it may be necessary to request new data and/or documents to ensure clarity. Individuals are encouraged to provide any outstanding documentation promptly or to provide it at the request of the department.
If you choose to submit a copy of your income tax return (Form 3), go to the restricted area of the Tax Portal (www.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt), click on "Personal income tax [IRS]", then on "Obtain proof" and select the years in which you worked under the exclusive dedication regime.
Alternatively, if you wish to submit a certificate issued and authenticated by the Tax Authority, you should request this document directly from the Tax Authority's Customer Services.
No. According to the guidelines issued by the Portuguese Court of Auditors, the "Certidão de Liquidação de IRS" (IRS Settlement Note) is not sufficient for the analysis of the exclusive dedication regime, since the documentation required for this process must indicate the employee's own income separately, since it includes the total income of the household.
No. In accordance with the guidelines issued by the Court of Auditors and the General Secretariat of Education and Science, the monitoring of the exclusive dedication regime must necessarily involve the analysis of the documents referred to in question 4, i.e. the analysis of the IRS declaration (model 3) with the validation code or, alternatively, a certificate issued and authenticated by the AT, indicating the income obtained (and the respective paying entities) during the year in which the regime was applied.
Thus, the declaration on honour by which the employee declares that he/she has complied with the exclusive dedication regime does not constitute a sufficient document for the purposes of this procedure and cannot, therefore, be accepted by the SGRH.
The documents referred to in question 4 must be submitted to the SGRH no later than 31 August of the year following the year to which the income pertains. For example, the documents relating to income earned in year N must be submitted by 31 August of year N+1.
However, in May and August, the SGRH will send two e-mails to all the employees identified in the answer to question 2, reminding them of the need to submit the documents by 31 August of the current year.
The documentation required for this process can be sent to the SGRH in one of the following ways:
a) Sending the documents in pdf format by e-mail to the following address: sgrh@uc.pt, without the need to send a hard copy;
b) Sending the paper documentation by post to SGRH, Edifício da Faculdade de Medicina, 1.º piso, Polo I, Rua Larga, 3004-504 Coimbra;
c) Delivering the paper documentation in person to the SGRH Service Unit (UA).
Once the documentation has been received and if it meets the requirements set out in question 4, the SGRH will send the employee an email to their institutional email account confirming receipt of the documentation, which will then be analysed.
As part of the monitoring process of the exclusive dedication scheme, and in strict compliance with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the SGRH analyses the income indicated in the documentation submitted by the employees and in the annual income tax return issued by the UC and sent to the tax authorities.
In the event of a discrepancy between the income declared in the documents submitted and in the annual income tax declaration issued by the UC, and as a result of which the receipt of additional income is verified, the SGRH checks the existence of any procedure authorising the performance of outside activities that could justify the receipt of other remuneration, and in these situations the employee may be asked for further clarification.
Yes, since article 3 of Decree-Law no. 1/83 establishes the obligation to submit a copy of the income tax return for the period during which the employee worked under this regime to the competent services of the institution to which the employee is affiliated.
Thus, in all cases in which the employee has benefited from the exclusive dedication regime, even if only for part of the calendar year, there is a de facto legal obligation to submit the documentation for that year.
In situations where you have been awarded an unremunerated fellowship for one or more full calendar year(s) (i.e. from the beginning of January to the end of December), you do not need to provide the documentation referred to in question 4, as during this period you did not, in all respects, benefit from the exclusive dedication scheme, due to your unremunerated status.
However, if your unpaid grant status changes, you must provide the documentation for the period in which you benefited from this scheme, even if only for part of the calendar year.
Yes, see answer to question 11.
At the beginning of the process, the SGRH will analyse the documents submitted on a case-by-case basis. In situations where there is additional income to that paid by this University, it may be necessary to request new data and/or new documents for further clarification.
In such situations, the SGRH will send an electronic notification to the employee so that alternative documentation can be added to the file to complete the process.
However, it is at the employee's discretion whether to send the additional clarifications at the same time as submitting the documents referred to in question 4, or instead to send them at our department's request.
1. After the SGRH has given the employee an additional 10 working days to submit the documents, the employee fails to do so;
2. The employee has earned additional income over that paid by the UC, under the conditions required by Article 70(3) of the ECDU/Article 52(2) of the ECIC/Article 7(4) of Decree-Law 57/2016 of 29 August, in its current wording, but has not obtained prior superior authorisation for that purpose;
3. The employee has earned additional income to that paid by the UC, resulting from other activities not mentioned in the subsections of Article 70(3) of the ECDU/Article 52(2) of the ECIC/Article 7(4) of Decree-Law No. 57/2016 of 29 August, or, on the other hand, not carried out under the provisions set forth therein.
Failure to submit the documents required for the monitoring of the exclusive dedication regime will entail, in accordance with the law, the refund of the sums received, corresponding to the difference between the full-time regime and the exclusive dedication regime, as well as the initiation of disciplinary proceedings (see art. 4, no. 1 of Decree-Law No. 1/83 and, in particular, art. 70, no. 2 of the ECDU).
Failure to comply with the exclusive dedication regime entails, in accordance with the law, the return of the sums actually received, corresponding to the difference between the full-time regime and the exclusive dedication regime, as well as the initiation of disciplinary proceedings (see art. 4, no. 1 of Decree-Law no. 1/83 and, in particular, art. 70, no. 2 of the ECDU and art. 176 et seq. of the LTFP).
If this deadline is missed, a final email will be sent to the employee's institutional inbox reminding them of the need to submit the documentation and giving them a further 10 working days to do so.
If, following this reminder and the expiry of the 10 working days, the employee still fails to submit the documents, further steps will be taken to formalise the failure to submit the required documents and, consequently, the breach of the exclusive dedication regime. In such case, the consequences outlined in the answer to question 17 will be applied, always complying with the right of prior consultation of the parties concerned, as provided for by law.
Any discrepancy between the income declared in the documents submitted and the amounts paid by the University of Coimbra, and/or the absence of internal authorisation for the performance of outside activities or collaborations that would justify the receipt of other income.
In this case, the employee will receive a notification in his/her institutional mailbox indicating the income to be clarified, so that additional information and/or documentation can be provided to complete the process.
Yes. Once the process has been completed and it has been verified that the exclusive dedication regime has been complied with, the SGRH will send an e-mail to the employee's institutional e-mail account notifying them that the exclusive dedication monitoring process for that year has been completed and duly settled.