About the calculator and its methodology

Who makes the site

The site is built and maintained by Tiago (MFoxDev) in Portugal. It does not belong to any bank, accountant or invoicing software, and no one pays to influence the results.

Sources

Portuguese laws are cited by their official names, in Portuguese, so you can look them up in the Diário da República. CIRS is the Personal Income Tax Code, CIVA the VAT Code and EBF the Tax Benefits Statute.

• Income tax brackets and rates: Art. 68.º do CIRS na redação da Lei n.º 73-A/2025 (OE 2026); taxas regionais: Decreto Legislativo Regional n.º 8/2025/M (Madeira) e tabela regional dos Açores.
• Rate cut (the “Cut approved on 9/10” option): Proposta de Lei n.º 108/XVII/2, aprovada pela Assembleia da República a 9 de outubro de 2026, ainda por publicar em Diário da República; parcelas calculadas pelas taxas médias do documento do Governo de 17/09/2026 (art. 68.º, n.º 2).
• Simplified regime: Art. 31.º do CIRS (coeficientes, redução no início de atividade, justificação de 15% das despesas).
• Minimum subsistence income (mínimo de existência): Art. 70.º do CIRS.
• IRS Jovem: Art. 12.º-B do CIRS (Lei n.º 45-A/2024).
• Withholding tax: Arts. 101.º e 101.º-B do CIRS.
• Social security: Código dos Regimes Contributivos, arts. 132.º a 168.º (Lei n.º 110/2009, na redação do Decreto-Lei n.º 2/2018).
• Sickness, parental and unemployment (cessação de atividade) benefits: Guias práticos do ISS: Subsídio de Doença (5001, v4.55, 14/07/2026; DL n.º 28/2004), Subsídio Parental Inicial (3010, v1.43, 20/05/2026; DL n.º 91/2009) e Subsídio por Cessação de Atividade para Trabalhadores Independentes Economicamente Dependentes (6007, v1.23, 21/05/2026; DL n.º 65/2012); remunerações registadas dos independentes = base de incidência (Código dos Regimes Contributivos).
• IFICI: Art. 58.º-A do EBF (Lei n.º 82/2023) e Portaria n.º 352/2024/1, de 23 de dezembro; folheto IFICI da AT (março de 2025); retenção a 20%: art. 101.º, n.º 1, d) do CIRS; incompatível com o IRS Jovem desde 2025.
• Organised accounting (contabilidade organizada): CIRS, arts. 28.º (regimes, limite de 200 000 € e opção sem período mínimo, n.os 4 e 5, na redação da Lei n.º 82-E/2014), 31.º (regime simplificado) e 32.º (contabilidade organizada: contribuições do titular para a Segurança Social e seguro de acidentes de trabalho aceites como gasto); Código dos Regimes Contributivos: base de 1/12 do lucro tributável do ano anterior, com mínimo de 1,5 IAS, ou opção pelo apuramento trimestral.
• The 15% rule: CIRS, art. 31.º, n.os 2, 13 (alíneas a) a f)), 14 (despesas parcialmente afetas em 25%), 15 e 16; dedução específica do art. 25.º, n.º 1, a) (8,54 × IAS).
• One-off transaction (ato isolado): CIVA, art. 31.º, n.º 3 (limite de 25 000 €), art. 53.º, n.º 6, a) (sem isenção para uma só operação) e art. 27.º, n.º 2 (IVA entregue até ao fim do mês seguinte); CIRS, art. 3.º (categoria B), art. 31.º (coeficientes) e art. 101.º-B, n.º 1, a) (dispensa de retenção); sem Segurança Social nem anexo SS (art. 143.º do Código Contributivo, parecer da OCC de 06/09/2021).
• IAS, the social support index (€537.13): Portaria n.º 480-A/2025/1, de 30 de dezembro.
• VAT: Art. 53.º do Código do IVA (Decreto-Lei n.º 35/2025).
• VAT exemption limit: CIVA, art. 53.º, n.ºs 1 e 5, e art. 58.º, n.ºs 2, 4 e 5 (redação do DL n.º 35/2025); Ofício-Circulado n.º 25094/2025 da AT (operações que contam para o volume de negócios).
• Tax calendar: CIVA, art. 41.º, n.º 1, b) e n.º 10 (redação do DL n.º 49/2025) e art. 27.º, n.º 1 (pagamento até dia 25); Segurança Social, folha informativa dos trabalhadores independentes (declaração trimestral até ao fim de janeiro, abril, julho e outubro; pagamento entre os dias 10 e 20); CIRS, art. 102.º (pagamentos por conta); comunicação de faturas até dia 5 do mês seguinte; declaração recapitulativa trimestral até dia 20 do mês seguinte ao trimestre (RITI, art. 30.º).
• Activity codes: Portaria n.º 1011/2001, de 21 de agosto (tabela de atividades do art. 151.º do CIRS), alterada pela Portaria n.º 256/2004 e pela Lei n.º 53-A/2006; coeficiente do 1519 segundo o acórdão de uniformização do STA de 2020 (proc. 092/19.9BALSB).
• Payments on account: CIRS, art. 102.º, n.º 2 na redação da Lei n.º 45-A/2024, de 31 de dezembro (65%, antes 76,5%); n.º 1 (20 de julho, setembro e dezembro) e n.º 3 (mínimo de 50 € por pagamento).

How the calculation works

1. Social security: 21.4% of 70% of what you invoice for services, with a minimum of €20 and a cap of 12 IAS a month. Nothing in the first year. With an employment contract, the exemption up to 4 IAS applies.
2. Taxable income: invoiced amount × the simplified-regime coefficient (reduced in the 1st and 2nd year if you have no salary or pension), minus social security above 10% of the invoiced amount, plus any part of the 15% in expenses left unjustified.
3. IRS Jovem: removes the exempt percentage from gross income, up to 55 IAS. Exempt income still counts towards the rate.
4. Minimum subsistence income: applies the article 70 allowance to people whose income is mainly salary or from professions on the article 151 list.
5. Tax due: applies the article 68 brackets (rate × income − amount to deduct) and the additional solidarity rate, then subtracts tax credits.
6. With a contract: the tax on your invoices is the difference between the tax on your salary with and without them.

For the hourly rate (in Portuguese), the calculator finds the annual invoiced amount that leaves the net income you ask for after social security, income tax and costs, and divides it by the billable hours in the year (hours per week × working weeks). By default, 30 hours a week and 7 weeks without invoicing.

For quarterly social security, the contribution comes from what you invoiced in the quarter you declare: 70% of services (or 20% of sales) divided by three, with the adjustment of up to 25% you choose, the minimum, the cap and the exemption for people who also have a contract. The adjustment also counts when checking whether you are below the 4 IAS exemption.

In simplified or organised accounting (in Portuguese), both regimes have the same real expenses. With organised accounting, profit is what you invoice minus expenses, the accountant and your own social security, and social security is the lower of 1/12 of profit (minimum 1.5 IAS) and the quarterly calculation, assuming the same profit as the previous year. The break-even point is the level of expenses at which both leave you the same money.

With IFICI, the tax on your invoices is the lower of 20% of category B taxable income and the tax at the general rates (opting for aggregation), without IRS Jovem. The calculator does not check whether your activity is eligible, and it does not apply the additional solidarity rate to income taxed at 20%, because the law is unclear.

For sick pay, parental leave and unemployment, the reference pay is your social security contribution base (at the minimum of €20, the base that matches it) divided by 30, assuming the same base every month. Unemployment (cessação de atividade) uses 75% of the reference pay net of social security only, without income tax withholding, so the maximum may come out slightly above the real one.

In how much to set aside (in Portuguese), the monthly amount adds up social security, the income tax not covered by withholding (divided by 12) and all the VAT you charge. Payments on account are estimated at 65% of the tax not withheld, in three instalments, assuming you invoiced the same two years earlier.

In the comparison with an employment contract (in Portuguese), the salary is taxed by the same income tax engine (category A), with 11% employee and 23.75% employer social security. The meal allowance is exempt up to the legal limits, and the payslip uses withholding Table I for the mainland.

In the comparison with a single-member company (in Portuguese), profit pays corporate tax (15% up to €50,000 and 19% above) and the municipal surcharge, and is paid out in full as dividends, which pay the cheaper of 28% and including 50% of them in income tax. The manager pays 34.75% social security on their salary, with a minimum of 1 IAS a month. If you leave the salary blank, the calculator looks for the one that leaves you the most.

The calculation runs on the server, always with the same code, whether or not your browser runs JavaScript.

Assumptions

Where the law is not explicit, or the result depends on the case, the calculator assumes:

• A single person with no dependants, taxed separately.
• Tax credits: by default, €250 in general household expenses, the maximum almost everyone reaches. You can change it.
• Social security in a steady state: each quarter's contributions use the income of the previous quarter. The annual calculators assume you invoice evenly through the year; for a specific quarter, use the social security calculator.
• First year: no social security and the 50% reduction in the coefficient. In practice, the social security exemption runs for 12 months from the start of activity, which does not always match the calendar year.
• IRS Jovem on category B: the exemption reduces taxable income in the same proportion as it reduces gross income. The law does not spell out this step; we follow the guide of the Order of Certified Accountants (OCC), which applies the exemption to gross income.
• 15% rule with a salary: we assume the automatic deduction of €4,587.09 also counts for people with a salary, because the law does not exclude it.
• Sale of goods: we assume the social security rate for sole traders (25.2%).
• Withholding tax: we assume all clients are companies and that, above €15,000, withholding applies to the whole year.
• Salary: 14 payments a year and 11% social security.
• Rate cut approved on 9 October: uses the approved rates and the amounts to deduct that follow from the average rates published by the Government on 17 September 2026. For now it only exists for the mainland.

What the calculator does not cover

Intellectual property income, the non-habitual resident (NHR) regime, married couples taxed jointly, dependants and work accident insurance. Organised accounting only appears in the comparison with the simplified regime (in Portuguese), one-off transactions have their own calculator (in Portuguese) and IFICI is an option in the net income calculator, which does not check whether your activity is eligible. The comparison with a single-member company leaves out setup costs, autonomous taxation and expenses the company might deduct.

The results are estimates. In complex cases, check with a certified accountant (contabilista certificado), the tax office or Social Security.

Updates

The rules are reviewed when the law changes, usually with the State Budget in January, and whenever there are changes during the year. The date of the last update is shown at the top of each page.

How the site is funded

The site is free and may show advertising and links to partner services (invoicing software, accountants, banks and insurance), always labelled as such. Advertising never appears between the form and the result and does not influence the calculations or the texts. More in the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy.

Found a mistake?

If a result does not match your income tax assessment or your social security contributions, write to geral@recibosverdesfacil.com. It helps a lot to include the figures and options you used. You can write in English.