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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.

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Tax schemes

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

activeSole proprietor

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 (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.

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.

Regime simplificado — IT & professional services (0.75 coefficient)

activeSole proprietor

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 (a deduction that lowers the tax base, not a payment)
  • IRS (general progressive scale, 2026) — progressive on revenue: 13% up to 8,342, 16% up to 12,587, 21% up to 17,838, 24% up to 23,089, 31% up to 29,397, 35% up to 43,090, 43% up to 46,566, 45% up to 86,634, 48% above
  • Solidarity surtax (taxa adicional de solidariedade) — progressive on revenue: 0% up to 80,000, 3% up to 250,000, 5% above

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.

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.

Regime simplificado — other services (0.35 coefficient)

activeSole proprietor

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 (a deduction that lowers the tax base, not a payment)
  • IRS (general progressive scale, 2026) — progressive on revenue: 13% up to 8,342, 16% up to 12,587, 21% up to 17,838, 24% up to 23,089, 31% up to 29,397, 35% up to 43,090, 43% up to 46,566, 45% up to 86,634, 48% above
  • Solidarity surtax (taxa adicional de solidariedade) — progressive on revenue: 0% up to 80,000, 3% up to 250,000, 5% above

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.

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.

Contabilidade organizada — organized accounting (actual expenses)

activeSole proprietor

What you pay

  • Social security (self-employed, 21.4% × 70% of income) — 15% of revenue (min 0, max 16,552/year)
  • IRS (general progressive scale, 2026) — progressive on profit: 13% up to 8,342, 16% up to 12,587, 21% up to 17,838, 24% up to 23,089, 31% up to 29,397, 35% up to 43,090, 43% up to 46,566, 45% up to 86,634, 48% above
  • Solidarity surtax (taxa adicional de solidariedade) — progressive on profit: 0% up to 80,000, 3% up to 250,000, 5% above

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.

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.

Try your own numbers

Same engine, your income. For a cross-country comparison use the 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