Guides2026-09-29

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.

A dependant does not move you into a lower IRS band. Article 78-A of the IRS Code gives a deduction from the tax (a dedução à coleta): euros taken off the tax bill, after the progressive scale has already been applied. The wording checked for this page is the one the Tax Authority publishes from Lei n.º 106/2017 and Lei n.º 24-D/2022. The consolidated page did not show a 2026 rewrite of the euro amounts. If a later diploma changes a figure, the page wins and this guide should be re-read against it: article 78-A.

The scale those euros come off is explained in the 2026 brackets. The household you declare, which decides who counts, is part of the filing calendar. A child who is still your dependant cannot also claim IRS Jovem on a return of their own.

The amounts in n.º 1, n.º 2 and n.º 3

Article 78-A as published by the Tax Authority (Lei n.º 106/2017 and Lei n.º 24-D/2022). Age is tested on 31 December of the tax year.
Situation	Credit
Each dependant (child, adopted child, or other recognised dependant) in one household	€600
Same dependant, alternating residence and joint parental responsibilities, to each parent	€300
Extra if that dependant is not older than 3 on 31 December, one household	€126 (so €726 for a young child in one household)
Same age extra, alternating residence, to each parent	€63
Extra for the second and each following dependant who is not older than 6 on 31 December, one household	€300
Same second-child extra, alternating residence, to each parent	€150
Each ascendant living in the household who does not earn more than the minimum pension of the general regime	€525
Further extra when there is only one such ascendant	€110

The €300 in alternating residence is €300 to each parent, not €600 paid twice. Two parents do not each receive the full single-household credit. A child who is 2 on 31 December and lives in one household is €600 + €126 = €726. The same child, with joint parental responsibilities and alternating residence, is €300 + €63 = €363 to each parent.

The extra €300 (or €150 to each parent, if residence alternates) is for the second and following dependants who are not older than 6 on 31 December, whatever the age of the first child. A first child aged 9 and a second child aged 5, in one household, are not a stacking puzzle: the first is €600, and the second is €600 + €300 = €900, because the under-3 uplift is not in point. The household total on those two lines is €1,500. The age of the older child does not switch the younger child's extra off.

Read n.º 4 before you add €126 and €300 on the same child

N.º 2 and n.º 3 are both published. N.º 2 is the uplift for a dependant who is not older than 3. N.º 3 is the uplift for the second and later dependants who are not older than 6. A second child who is 2 years old on 31 December sits in the words of both numbers. N.º 4, on the same Tax Authority page, is the paragraph that decides whether those two uplifts can be added together. Some secondary simulators refuse to add them and show a combined ceiling of €900 per child. That is a simulator's reading. Before you add €126 and €300 on the same child, read the current n.º 4 and apply what it says.

An ascendant in the household

An ascendant who actually lives with you, and who does not earn more than the minimum pension of the general regime, gives a credit of €525. If there is only one such ascendant, n.º 2 adds €110, so that one person is €525 + €110 = €635. Two qualifying ascendants are €525 each. The extra €110 is for the case of a single qualifying ascendant, so it is not added on top of both. This page does not invent the 2026 amount of that pension. The statute says "the minimum pension of the general regime". Check this year's figure at Social Security before you decide that a small pension still fits.

€600 off the tax is not €600 off the band

Because the dependant amount is a credit against the tax, €600 of credit saves €600 of tax, up to the tax you actually owe. Taking €600 off taxable income does something much smaller. Inside the 31.1 percent band, €600 less taxable income saves about €186.60 of tax, because 600 × 0.311 = 186.60. The true credit saves €600. The gap is the whole point of article 78-A. People who "gross up" a dependant by shaving the salary that enters the brackets are using the wrong legal mechanism, and they will understate the relief whenever the credit is the real rule.

The SalarioBox employee calculator currently subtracts €600 × the number of dependants from taxable income, and it ignores the age uplifts. That is a simplification, and it is the wrong legal mechanism. It will not produce €726 for a young child, it will not split €300 and €300 for alternating residence, and it will not show the €600 credit against the tax. Use the employee calculator as a sketch of pay without this article. Use this page for the credit. The payslip guide is the place to see how a monthly figure gets onto the receipt.

The monthly parcela is an advance

Despacho n.º 233-A/2026, the mainland withholding tables, already includes an extra monthly parcela per dependant where the table allows it. That parcela reduces the tax the employer holds back each month. It is an advance on the annual position. It is not itself the €600 credit, and it does not contain the €126 or €300 age uplifts as a separate annual settlement. If the dependant count on the payroll is wrong, the advance is wrong, and the return is where it is corrected.

Dependants sit outside the global cap in article 78 that limits the health, education and rent credits. Do not drop the €600 into that capped group and then wonder why a simulator cut it. Health, education, rent and the general family-expenses credit have their own rules and, for several of them, that shared ceiling. Article 78-A is a different subtraction. You still have to be able to support the household you declared, and a dependant you cannot legally treat as one does not become one because a form had a spare line.

Frequently asked questions

Does a child put me in a lower bracket?

No. The brackets apply to taxable income. Article 78-A then subtracts a credit from the tax. €600 off the tax saves €600 of tax. €600 off taxable income in the 31.1 percent band saves about €186.60. Those are different operations.

How does alternating residence split the €600?

It does not give €600 to each parent. With joint parental responsibilities and alternating residence, each parent gets €300. The under-3 extra is €63 to each of them, not €126 twice. The extra for a second young child is €150 to each, not €300 twice.

Can I add the under-3 extra and the second-child extra on the same child?

N.º 2 and n.º 3 both exist, so a very young second child is described by both. Do not add €126 and €300 until you have read the current n.º 4 on the Tax Authority page. Some simulators show a €900 ceiling instead of adding the two uplifts. That is their reading, not a quote you should skip past the statute to reach.

Why does the SalarioBox result disagree with this page?

The employee calculator subtracts €600 per dependant from taxable income and ignores the age uplifts. That is the wrong mechanism and a simplification. The legal credit comes off the tax, and the age lines can raise it above €600. The monthly withholding parcela is only an advance.

Can my child be a dependant and claim IRS Jovem?

No. IRS Jovem requires a taxpayer who is not considered a dependant. While the child is on your return for article 78-A, they do not claim article 12-B on a return of their own. The choice is about status, not about ticking two boxes.