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SettleMetric

PTOfficial rules, modeled

Freelancer taxes in Portugal (2026).

A freelancer earning €60,000 a year in Portugal keeps between 36,702 EUR and 47,428 EUR depending on the scheme — the best option is "Regime simplificado — other services (0.35 coefficient)" at an effective burden of 21.0%. 4 schemes below, each computed from official rules.

VerifiedUpdated

4 schemes · 8 source records · every result follows the published scheme rules

PT · 2026

01

At €60,000 a year

A like-for-like view of every eligible scheme before the full rules below.

  1. 01Regime simplificado — other services (0.35 coefficient)Best result at this incomeNet income47,428 EUREffective burden21.0%
  2. 02IFICI — 20% flat tax for research & innovation (NHR successor)Net income42,012 EUREffective burden30.0%
  3. 03Regime simplificado — IT & professional services (0.75 coefficient)Net income39,360 EUREffective burden34.4%
  4. 04Contabilidade organizada — organized accounting (actual expenses)Net income36,702 EUREffective burden38.8%

Reference profile: self-employed · €60,000 annual gross income · no deductible expenses · full-year tax residency.

Full rules

Inside each tax scheme

01activeSole proprietor

Regime simplificado — other services (0.35 coefficient)

Effective burden at €60k

21.0%

What you pay

  • Social security (self-employed, 21.4% × 70% of income) — 15% of revenue (min 0, max 16,552/year)
  • Simplified-regime coefficient (65% presumed expenses) — 65% of revenue (deductible from revenue) (a deduction that lowers the tax base, not a payment)
  • 03
    IRS (general progressive scale, 2026)

    Progressive scale · base: annual revenue

    Annual revenue · EURRate
    ≤ 8,34212.5%
    8,342–12,58715.7%
    12,587–17,83821.2%
    17,838–23,08924.1%
    23,089–29,39731.1%
    Annual revenue · EURRate
    29,397–43,09034.9%
    43,090–46,56643.1%
    46,566–86,63444.6%
    > 86,63448%
  • 04
    Solidarity surtax (taxa adicional de solidariedade)

    Progressive scale · base: annual revenue

    Annual revenue · EURRate
    ≤ 80,0000%
    80,000–250,0002.5%
    Annual revenue · EURRate
    > 250,0005%

Eligibility

  • Revenue cap 200,000 EUR/year
  • Activities: other-services not on the art. 151 CIRS professional list
  • Requires tax residency
  • Coefficient 0.35 applies to service provision not listed at art. 151 CIRS and not otherwise assigned a rate (e.g. some consulting, trades, local-accommodation-adjacent services). Same 200,000 EUR cap and 15% add-back mechanism as the 0.75 track; classification by the actual activity is decisive.

Net income examples

Gross/yearNet/yearBurden
30,000 EUR24,124 EUR19.6%
60,000 EUR47,428 EUR21.0%
120,000 EUR93,000 EUR22.5%

Computed by our open tax engine — assumes no deductible expenses, full-year tax residency. Rules as of Jan 1, 2026.

Important context

Same structure as pt-simplificado-075 but with the 0.35 coefficient (65% presumed expenses) for services not on the art. 151 CIRS list. The lower coefficient means a lower taxable base and a lower effective burden than the 0.75 track, but the classification is fact-specific and must match the actual activity. Start-up social-security exemption, personal reliefs and the mínimo de existência are not modelled.

02activeSole proprietor

IFICI — 20% flat tax for research & innovation (NHR successor)

Effective burden at €60k

30.0%

What you pay

  • Social security (self-employed, 21.4% × 70% of income) — 15% of revenue (min 0, max 16,552/year)
  • Simplified-regime coefficient (25% presumed expenses) — 25% of revenue (deductible from revenue) (a deduction that lowers the tax base, not a payment)
  • IFICI flat IRS 20% — 20% of revenue

Eligibility

  • Revenue cap 200,000 EUR/year
  • Activities: it-services, research, highly-qualified, startups
  • Requires tax residency
  • Limited to first 10 years
  • IFICI (art. 58.º-A EBF; Portaria 352/2024, amended 52-A/2025). New residents only: not tax-resident in Portugal in any of the 5 prior years and never benefited from NHR/RNH. 20% flat rate applies to net category A/B income from eligible activities — IT/ICT specialists, AI, data, cybersecurity, R&D staff, certified startups/scaleups. 10-year cap, not renewable; register with AT/FCT by 15 Jan of the year after becoming resident. maxRevenue 200,000 EUR reflects the category-B simplified-regime cap modelled here (IFICI itself has no revenue cap for employment income).

Net income examples

Gross/yearNet/yearBurden
30,000 EUR21,006 EUR30.0%
60,000 EUR42,012 EUR30.0%
120,000 EUR85,448 EUR28.8%

Computed by our open tax engine — assumes no deductible expenses, full-year tax residency. Rules as of Jan 1, 2026.

Important context

IFICI is the successor to the NHR/RNH regime for new residents. The 20% flat rate applies to Portuguese-source eligible category A/B income; qualifying foreign-source income is generally exempt (not modelled here — we compute Portuguese-source self-employment). Modelled on top of the category-B simplified regime (0.75 coefficient) because that is the default self-employment base; a beneficiary using organized accounting would deduct actual costs instead. The 15% expense add-back (art. 31.13 CIRS) is immaterial for this profile — mandatory social contributions (14.98% of gross) alone nearly satisfy the 15% test — so the taxable base is modelled as exactly 0.75 × gross. Solidarity surtax (Art. 68.º-A) is not added because IFICI income is taxed at the special 20% rate, not the general scale. IRS municipal/other personal reliefs and the mínimo de existência are not modelled.

03activeSole proprietor

Regime simplificado — IT & professional services (0.75 coefficient)

Effective burden at €60k

34.4%

What you pay

  • Social security (self-employed, 21.4% × 70% of income) — 15% of revenue (min 0, max 16,552/year)
  • Simplified-regime coefficient (25% presumed expenses) — 25% of revenue (deductible from revenue) (a deduction that lowers the tax base, not a payment)
  • 03
    IRS (general progressive scale, 2026)

    Progressive scale · base: annual revenue

    Annual revenue · EURRate
    ≤ 8,34212.5%
    8,342–12,58715.7%
    12,587–17,83821.2%
    17,838–23,08924.1%
    23,089–29,39731.1%
    Annual revenue · EURRate
    29,397–43,09034.9%
    43,090–46,56643.1%
    46,566–86,63444.6%
    > 86,63448%
  • 04
    Solidarity surtax (taxa adicional de solidariedade)

    Progressive scale · base: annual revenue

    Annual revenue · EURRate
    ≤ 80,0000%
    80,000–250,0002.5%
    Annual revenue · EURRate
    > 250,0005%

Eligibility

  • Revenue cap 200,000 EUR/year
  • Activities: it-services (art. 151 CIRS professional list)
  • Requires tax residency
  • Simplified regime (art. 31 CIRS): available while annual gross category-B income ≤ 200,000 EUR and organized accounting was not elected. Coefficient 0.75 applies to professional services on the art. 151 CIRS list (includes IT/programming). Taxable income = 0.75 × gross, plus the art. 31.13 add-back = max(0, 15% × gross − (max(4,587.09, social contributions) + other documented expenses)); the add-back is ~0 for a solo freelancer because social contributions already ≈ 15% of gross.

Net income examples

Gross/yearNet/yearBurden
30,000 EUR21,560 EUR28.1%
60,000 EUR39,360 EUR34.4%
120,000 EUR71,385 EUR40.5%

Computed by our open tax engine — assumes no deductible expenses, full-year tax residency. Rules as of Jan 1, 2026.

Important context

Default self-employment regime. Social contributions are a cash levy but are NOT deductible from the simplified taxable base — they only count inside the art. 31.13 15% expense test, which nets to ~0 add-back here (so the base is modelled as exactly 0.75 × gross). The 2026 IRS scale is Law 73-A/2025 (OE 2026), effective 2025-12-30. First-year social-security exemption (12 months for new self-employed), Mínimo de Existência, spouse/child reliefs, and the alternative to be taxed under category-A rules (single-client) are not modelled. Verify the exact activity coefficient (0.75 vs 0.35) against the art. 151 CIRS list for the specific service.

04activeSole proprietor

Contabilidade organizada — organized accounting (actual expenses)

Effective burden at €60k

38.8%

What you pay

  • Social security (self-employed, 21.4% × 70% of income) — 15% of revenue (min 0, max 16,552/year) (deductible from profit)
  • 02
    IRS (general progressive scale, 2026)

    Progressive scale · base: annual profit

    Annual profit · EURRate
    ≤ 8,34212.5%
    8,342–12,58715.7%
    12,587–17,83821.2%
    17,838–23,08924.1%
    23,089–29,39731.1%
    Annual profit · EURRate
    29,397–43,09034.9%
    43,090–46,56643.1%
    46,566–86,63444.6%
    > 86,63448%
  • 03
    Solidarity surtax (taxa adicional de solidariedade)

    Progressive scale · base: annual profit

    Annual profit · EURRate
    ≤ 80,0000%
    80,000–250,0002.5%
    Annual profit · EURRate
    > 250,0005%

Eligibility

  • Requires tax residency
  • Organized accounting: taxable income = actual revenue − documented business expenses (deductible per CIRC rules), taxed on the general progressive IRS scale. Mandatory above 200,000 EUR of category-B income; optional below it. Better than the simplified regime when real costs exceed the presumed 25%/65% expense allowance. Social contributions are deductible from the profit base.

Net income examples

Gross/yearNet/yearBurden
30,000 EUR20,666 EUR31.1%
60,000 EUR36,702 EUR38.8%
120,000 EUR64,594 EUR46.2%

Computed by our open tax engine — assumes no deductible expenses, full-year tax residency. Rules as of Jan 1, 2026.

Important context

Organized accounting deducts documented expenses instead of a fixed coefficient, and social contributions are deductible from the profit base (unlike the simplified regime). Reported net follows the project convention: business expenses reduce the tax base but are NOT subtracted from the reported net. Mandatory audit/accountant (TOC) costs, autonomous taxation on certain expenses, first-year social-security exemption, personal reliefs and the mínimo de existência are not modelled.

02

Try your own numbers

Change income, currency and expenses to recalculate every active scheme for Portugal.

full calculator
  1. 1 Regime simplificado — other services (0.35 coefficient)
    47,428 EURnet/year
    21.0% burden
  2. 2 IFICI — 20% flat tax for research & innovation (NHR successor)
    42,012 EURnet/year
    30.0% burden
  3. 3 Regime simplificado — IT & professional services (0.75 coefficient)
    39,360 EURnet/year
    34.4% burden
  4. 4 Contabilidade organizada — organized accounting (actual expenses)
    36,702 EURnet/year
    38.8% burden