Your first tax return in Portugal

When

• 1 April to 30 June: you file the return for the previous year on the Portal das Finanças.
• By 31 August: you pay any tax due. Refunds usually arrive within weeks.

What goes in it

• Annex B: your freelance income in the simplified regime, mostly prefilled from the invoices you issued on the Portal.
• Annex J: income from abroad, such as foreign interest or rent, with any tax paid there.
• Annex L: if you are registered for IFICI, where you choose between the 20% rate and the general rates.
• IRS Jovem: claimed in the return, not on your invoices.

In the year you arrive, you file as a resident only for the part of the year after you became resident. See tax residency.

Why the bill can be large

Clients abroad do not withhold Portuguese tax, so if most of your clients are foreign, the whole year's tax is due at once. The net income calculator shows the amount; set it aside during the year.

Payments on account

From your third year, if your tax was not covered by withholding, the tax authority asks for three advance payments (pagamentos por conta) in July, September and December, based on the tax of two years before. They are deducted in the next return.

Expenses and tax credits

Business expenses only matter for the 15% rule above about €30,600 a year in art. 151 professions. Personal expenses (health, education, rent, general family expenses) give tax credits if you add your NIF to the receipts, and they are collected on e-fatura. Check e-fatura by the end of February.

Sources: IRS Code, articles 57, 60, 102 and 31. Dates for the 2026 return on 2025 income are the general ones; check the tax calendar on the Portal das Finanças.