Starting as self-employed
We set out the tax regime to choose, how to register your activity and what you owe and file in your first year as a freelancer in Portugal.
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In short
Starting as self-employed in Portugal means registering your activity with the tax authority, choosing how your income is taxed, and knowing when VAT and social security apply. Social security contributions are 21.4% on 70% of your fees. You may qualify for the VAT exemption while your turnover stays within €15,000, subject to conditions, and clients abroad change the rules.
What decides it:
- the activity you register;
- the turnover you expect;
- whether your clients are in Portugal or abroad;
- whether you also have employment income or a pension;
- whether this is your first registration as self-employed in Portugal.
What you get
- The tax regime to choose for your income, with the reasons for the choice.
- How to register your activity with the tax authority.
- Your obligations in the first year for income tax, VAT and social security, with their dates.
- A call with your adviser when your case needs it.
How it works
- After payment, you upload your documents in your portal, such as any contracts with clients and the records of your other income.
- Your advice reaches your portal, signed by your adviser, with your first-year obligations and the date each one falls due.
The dates that matter
Register your activity before you start it. On a first registration, Social Security contributions normally start in the 12th month after the month you begin, and your income is declared in the IRS return filed between 1 April and 30 June of the following year.
What is not included
- Bookkeeping, VAT returns and Social Security filings, which are recurring work for an accountant; our partner accountant can take them on and bill them directly.
- Your returns and your tax in other countries, if you also work or pay tax there, which stay with your adviser there.
What clients say
Taxbordr’s entity-versus-freelancer analysis proved I didn’t need a Portuguese company. Staying as a sole trader with corrected recibos verdes (Portugal’s self-employment receipts) reduced avoidable corporate and compliance friction.
Canadian freelancer, Lisbon In one year I had UK consulting income, RSUs from a former employer, a small Portuguese sole-trader activity, and questions about whether IFICI was even available to me. I did not know what belonged on the return and what was just noise. Taxbordr separated the income streams, flagged the documents I was missing, and gave me a filing plan I could actually follow.
Irish consultant, Braga
From clients we have advised. Names withheld at their request.
Guides on this
Questions
Do I need a company instead?
It depends on the activity you register, the turnover you expect, whether your clients are in Portugal or abroad and whether you employ staff. The advice says whether a company would change the tax result; if it would, starting a company is a separate project.
