SalarioBox
Guides
Longer writing on what the calculators simplify. Each one has a worked number, a table or a list, frequently asked questions, and links to Portal das Finanças, Social Security or the official journal. They are educational estimates, reviewed on 29 September 2026.
01
Portugal IRS brackets for 2026
The nine mainland IRS bands for 2026 income, how the parcela a abater works, and why monthly withholding is a different table.
02
How to read a Portuguese payslip in 2026
A line-by-line reading of a 2026 mainland employee payslip: base pay, meal days, the 11% social-security cut, IRS withholding and the net you can rebuild.
03
Holiday pay and Christmas pay in Portugal
How the Labour Code sets 22 days of holiday and a holiday subsidy, what article 263 actually says about Christmas pay, and how duodécimos change a month.
04
Portugal meal allowance in 2026
The 2026 cash and meal-card exemption limits, when a private employer must pay a meal allowance at all, and how the daily excess becomes taxable pay.
05
Employee social security in Portugal
The general-regime split of 11% for the worker and 23.75% for the employer, what enters the base, and what a contribution month does not guarantee.
06
Recibos verdes in 2026: the invoice, the VAT and the withholding
What a fatura-recibo is, how article 101 withholding works for category B, and why the money that hits your account is not your economic net.
07
The simplified regime in 2026: article 31 coefficients
How category B revenue becomes taxable income, why the 15 percent expense floor can add tax, and where the €200,000 cap sits.
08
Freelancer social security in 2026: the quarterly contribution
How relevant income, the quarterly declaration and the 21.4 percent rate turn invoices into a contribution, including the 12 × IAS ceiling.
09
The first year of freelancer social security is a deferred start
Why the first twelve months are not a formal exemption, when effects actually begin, and how the separate employee exemption works.
10
IRS Jovem: the partial exemption for workers up to 35
Who can opt for article 12-B, how the ten-year percentages and the 2026 cap of €29,542.15 work, and why the exempt income still affects the rate.
11
IFICI: the 20 percent regime that replaced NHR for new arrivals
What article 58-A of the Tax Benefits Statute actually offers, who can register, and a labelled comparison of €12,000 against the 2026 progressive scale.
12
Dependants and ascendants: credits against the tax, not a lower band
The article 78-A amounts published by the Tax Authority, the age uplifts, the alternating-residence split, and why subtracting €600 from taxable income is the wrong mechanism.
13
IRS filing calendar: the 2026 campaign is about 2025 income
The 1 April to 30 June 2026 window you can rely on, the preparatory dates that published summaries did not agree on, and why this return does not use the 2026 brackets.
14
From monthly gross pay to an annual net estimate
How a mainland contract salary becomes a 2026 annual estimate: 12 or 14 payments, social security, the specific-deduction floor, one IRS bracket, then a split by the number of payments.
15
Employee salary and a freelancer invoice are different deals
Why the same monthly number is not a break-even between a mainland job and recibos verdes, and what the compare tool is actually sketching for 2026.
16
Minimum wage in mainland Portugal for 2026
The guaranteed monthly minimum of €920 from 1 January 2026, why 14 × €920 equals the €12,880 minimum existence, and why bracket arithmetic is not the payslip.