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Recibos verdes 2026: freelancer tax guide for Portugal

Updated 25 October 2026· Checked against official sources

Ler em português

Working with recibos verdes (literally “green receipts”, the freelance invoices used in Portugal) means providing services as a self-employed worker (trabalhador independente, category B of IRS, personal income tax). Before your first receipt, you need to register your activity with the Tax Authority (in Portuguese). This freelancer guide for Portugal explains what happens next: issuing receipts, VAT (IVA), withholding tax and Social Security.

How to issue a recibo verde on the Portal das Finanças

1. Log in to the Portal das Finanças with your NIF and password or with Chave Móvel Digital.
2. Go to Serviços › Faturas e Recibos Verdes › Emitir (Services › Invoices and Green Receipts › Issue).
3. Choose the type of document: fatura-recibo (invoice-receipt, when you have already been paid), fatura (invoice, when you will be paid later) or recibo (receipt, to settle an earlier invoice).
4. Enter the date of the service and the client’s NIF (or “consumidor final” — final consumer — if the private client does not want to give a NIF).
5. Describe the service and the base amount.
6. Choose the VAT scheme (normal rate or exemption reason, for example “art. 53.º do CIVA”).
7. Choose the IRS scheme: with withholding (the applicable rate) or without withholding (with the reason).
8. Check the preview and issue it. The document is available as a PDF to send to the client.

There are no costs and no compulsory software: the portal is free. If you do not have a NIF yet, first see how to get a NIF in Portugal.

Do freelancers in Portugal have to charge VAT?

The special exemption scheme in art. 53 of the CIVA (VAT Code) lets you not charge VAT if your yearly turnover does not go over 15 000 € (limit changed by Decreto-Lei n.º 35/2025).

Going over the limit by more than 25% means invoicing more than 18 750 € (15 000 € × 1,25) in the current year; you must charge VAT starting from the invoice that goes over that amount.

In the normal scheme, you charge VAT at 23% (mainland) and submit periodic VAT returns, usually every quarter.

How much is withholding tax on recibos verdes?

When the client is a company or organisation with organised accounts, it withholds IRS and pays it to the State. The rates are in art. 101 of the IRS Code (CIRS):

Exemption from withholding (art. 101-B): if you expect to invoice less than the limit in art. 53 of the VAT Code (15 000 €) and you did not go over it in the previous year, you can choose not to have tax withheld. To do this, write on the receipt: “Sem retenção, nos termos do n.º 1 do artigo 101.º-B do Código do IRS”. The exemption ends in the month after the month you reach the limit.

Withholding is only an advance payment of IRS: the final balance is settled in the annual return (Anexo B), and the result shows in your IRS refund (in Portuguese).

Example (illustrative): a VAT-exempt designer, without the withholding exemption, invoices 1 000 € to a company. The company withholds 230 € (23%) and pays her 770 €. The 230 € is deducted from her final IRS.

How much Social Security do I pay as a freelancer?

According to the Social Security Practical Guide:

• Contribution rate: 21,4% for self-employed workers (25,2% for sole traders, empresários em nome individual).
• Relevant income: 70% of the value of services provided (20% for sales of goods and hotels/restaurants), calculated over the previous three months.
• Monthly base: 1/3 of the relevant income for the quarter.
• Minimum contribution: 20 €.
• Payment: monthly, between the 10th and the 20th of the following month.
• Adjustment: you can choose a base up to 25% above or below the calculated one, in steps of 5%.

Example (illustrative): you invoiced 6 000 € for services in one quarter. Relevant income = 70% × 6 000 € = 4 200 €. Monthly base = 4 200 € ÷ 3 = 1 400 €. Contribution = 21,4% × 1 400 € = 299,60 € per month for the next three months.

Most common exemptions

• First 12 months: your first registration only takes effect on the 1st day of the 12th month after you start your activity.
• Combined with a job as an employee: exemption if your average monthly relevant income is less than 4 × IAS (with the 2026 IAS of 537,13 €: 4 × 537,13 € = 2 148,52 €) and your salary is at least 1 IAS.
• Pensioners receiving disability or old-age pensions, under certain conditions.

Requests and checks are made on Segurança Social Direta, with your NISS.

How does the quarterly declaration work?

1. Log in to Segurança Social Direta.
2. Go to Emprego › Declaração trimestral (Employment › Quarterly declaration — the menu name may vary).
3. Confirm your income for the previous quarter (much of it is pre-filled from your invoices on the Portal das Finanças).
4. Choose whether you want to adjust the base (±25%).
5. Submit by the last day of January, April, July and October.

People with organised accounts use the previous year’s taxable profit and do not submit the quarterly declaration.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting the quarterly declaration. Even if you are exempt, check whether you are excused from it; not submitting it can lead to fines.
• Writing “sem retenção” (no withholding) without the right to it. The art. 101-B exemption only applies below 15 000 € and with the exact wording on the receipt.
• Going over the VAT limit and still invoicing as exempt. Above 18 750 € (15 000 € + 25%) in the same year the exemption ends immediately.
• Confusing invoicing with income. Social Security is based on 70% of services, not the full amount.
• Not saving money for IRS. Without withholding, all the tax is paid in the annual return.
• Issuing the receipt with the wrong date. The date must be the date of the service or of payment, depending on the document.

If you also have a salary, see how your net salary is affected and whether you can benefit from IRS Jovem, which also covers category B income.