Odivelas, Leiria and Other Councils Chase Unpaid School Lunch Bills Through Tax Enforcement: Who Eats Free and How to Settle a Debt
Councils are owed hundreds of thousands of euros for school meals, and Odivelas already has 510,408 euros in tax enforcement. Nothing in the law changed today. Who gets free or half-price meals, how to apply mid-year, and how to pay a debt in instalments.
Several Portuguese councils are owed hundreds of thousands of euros by families who have not paid for their children's school lunches, and part of that money is now being recovered through execução fiscal (tax enforcement proceedings). The figures come from a survey of councils by Jornal de Notícias on 23 October, reported by Observador, Notícias ao Minuto and SIC Notícias. No law changed: this is how councils have treated old meal debts for years.
Which councils, and how much
According to the figures reported by Observador, Odivelas is owed 836,344 euros, of which 510,408 euros is already in tax enforcement. Leiria has 294,982 euros outstanding for meals between 2019 and July 2024, and 185,474 euros of that is due to be collected by the Autoridade Tributária (Tax and Customs Authority). Maia is owed more than 40,000 euros by 2,142 families; Ovar about 50,000 euros and Azambuja about 17,000 euros, some of it dating back to 2015.
Before turning to tax enforcement, many councils first contact parents and offer payment plans, the report says. Loures has plans with 90 families and has raised its limit to 20 instalments, with more allowed where a family proves economic hardship. Maia told the newspaper it has never refused a child a meal over a debt. That contrasts with Entroncamento, which stopped serving lunch to pupils with unpaid accounts in September.
Why a school lunch can end up in tax enforcement
Since Decreto-Lei 21/2019, councils run school canteens from pre-school to secondary. The price families pay is set nationally by Despacho 8452-A/2015 at 1.46 euros a meal, and that order says meals should be paid in advance by ticket bought before the day, with a 30 cent surcharge for same-day booking. Many councils instead bill monthly afterwards, which is how arrears build up.
A 2020 legal opinion by the CCDR Norte (Northern Regional Coordination and Development Commission) concluded that this price is close enough to a tax to be recovered through tax enforcement, and that such a debt only lapses after eight years. Councils now write this into their rules: Porto de Mós's school support regulation, published in the Diário da República in June 2026, says unpaid sums may be collected "through the respective tax enforcement process".
Free and half-price meals: who qualifies
Under the same despacho, Ação Social Escolar (school social support) is tied to the family's abono de família (child benefit) bracket. Pupils in bracket 1 are in escalão A and eat free; bracket 2 is escalão B and pays half, 73 cents. To get it, give the school or council the Segurança Social (Social Security) document showing your bracket.
- Changes during the year count: if your child benefit bracket is reassessed, the pupil gets school support from then on, except for textbooks.
- A family in escalão B moves to escalão A while a parent has been involuntarily unemployed and registered at the job centre for three months or more.
- Children whose families do not yet have legal residence, enrolled conditionally, can still qualify by showing payslips that would place them in bracket 1 or 2.
- Where income is in doubt, schools may grant support provisionally while the case is decided.
If you already owe money
Ask the council's education department for a payment plan before the debt goes to enforcement. If the debt is already in tax enforcement, the Código de Procedimento e de Processo Tributário (Tax Procedure Code) lets you ask the enforcement office to pay in equal monthly instalments, up to 36 in most cases, until a sale of assets is scheduled. If your income has fallen, apply for school support too, so new meals stop adding to the bill.
