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.
The simplified regime is the usual way Portugal taxes category B income when you do not keep organised accounting. You do not deduct a pile of invoices one by one to arrive at a profit. Article 31 of the IRS Code applies a coefficient to revenue. The coefficient is the taxable share. The rest is presumed expenses. A €3,000 invoice does not become €3,000 of taxable income.
The coefficients below are the ones in article 31(1), as tracked by the Ordem dos Contabilistas Certificados practical guide of August 2026. They are IRS coefficients. They are not the social-security coefficients. Social security uses 70 percent of services and 20 percent of production, sales of goods, and covered hotel, restaurant and beverage services. That arithmetic is in the freelancer social security guide. Feeding 0.75 or 0.35 into the contribution formula is the wrong table.
The article 31 shares
Read each row as: taxable income from that revenue equals revenue times the coefficient. Presumed expenses are the complement, one minus the coefficient. The OCC guide is the practical source for this layout, including letter e and letter f, which this page names because that is how the guide labels them. The other rows are described in words so a letter is not guessed.
| Revenue | Taxable coefficient | Presumed expenses |
|---|---|---|
| Sales of goods and products; hotel, restaurant and beverage services, except local lodging in a house or apartment | 0.15 | 0.85 |
| Professional services specifically listed in the article 151 table | 0.75 | 0.25 |
| Other services | 0.35 | 0.65 |
| Intellectual or industrial property, information, certain capital income imputed to the activity, gains | 0.95 | 0.05 |
| Subsidies not intended for the operation (OCC letter e) | 0.30 | 0.70 |
| Operating subsidies, and remaining category B income not in the other letters (OCC letter f) | 0.10 | 0.90 |
| Isolated acts | 1.00 | 0 |
| Local lodging in a house or apartment in a containment area | 0.50 | 0.50 |
| Local lodging in a house or apartment outside a containment area | 0.35 | 0.65 |
Local lodging — alojamento local — in a house or apartment is the explicit exception to the 0.15 hospitality row. Inside a containment area (área de contenção) the coefficient is 0.50. Outside a containment area it is 0.35. Hotel, restaurant and beverage services that are not that kind of lodging stay on 0.15. If you are not sure whether a property sits in a containment area, say so on the return only after you have checked the classification. This page does not keep a map.
The same invoices change a lot with the row. €3,000 a month of article 151 services is €36,000 a year. Taxable income is €36,000 × 0.75 = €27,000, and presumed expenses are €9,000. The same €36,000 of other services is €36,000 × 0.35 = €12,600, with presumed expenses of €23,400. The difference in the taxable share is €14,400, before the 15 percent test below and before any bracket. Choosing the activity, which the recibos verdes guide separates into article 151 and the CAE, is this difference. It is not a cosmetic label.
The 15 percent floor on service expenses
Article 31(2) adds income when documented eligible expenses connected to the 0.75 or the 0.35 service revenue are under 15 percent of that revenue. The shortfall is added to taxable income. The floor applies to those two service rows. It is not a 15 percent test on sales at 0.15, on the 0.95 row, on subsidies, or on isolated acts. Spending more than 15 percent does not increase the presumed-expense share. The coefficient still stands. Only a shortfall is added.
Stay with the article 151 year: revenue €36,000, coefficient result €27,000, presumed expenses €9,000. Suppose the invoices the code actually accepts come to only €3,000. That is €3,000 / €36,000 = 0.0833, or 8.3 percent of that revenue. The 15 percent floor is €36,000 × 0.15 = €5,400. The shortfall is €5,400 − €3,000 = €2,400. Taxable income becomes €27,000 + €2,400 = €29,400.
- Revenue of the article 151 services: €3,000 × 12 = €36,000.
- Coefficient: €36,000 × 0.75 = €27,000 taxable, which implies €9,000 of presumed expenses.
- Documented eligible expenses: €3,000, which is 8.3 percent of €36,000.
- Floor: €36,000 × 0.15 = €5,400. Shortfall: €5,400 − €3,000 = €2,400.
- Taxable income after article 31(2): €27,000 + €2,400 = €29,400.
On other services at 0.35 the same year starts from €12,600. Expenses of €3,000 are still a €2,400 shortfall, so taxable income becomes €15,000. A personal supermarket bill does not become an eligible document because it left the same account. If you are unsure a document counts, that is a question for the return and the OCC checklist.
Take the taxable figure to the brackets, without hiding social security inside it
€29,400 is the simplified taxable income after the top-up in the example. It is the figure you carry toward the 2026 IRS brackets. It is not yet the assessment. Other income, joint taxation, dependants, tax credits and IRS Jovem, if it applies to you, are still outside that number. IRS Jovem can change the tax. It does not change the article 31 coefficient.
Use the rate and the parcela a abater from that guide. €27,000, before the top-up, sits below the threshold of €29,397. €29,400 sits €3 above it, so the two figures are in different bands. This page does not finish the euro of tax. The coefficient applies to revenue. Social security was not deducted inside it. Contributions are a separate cash cost in the social security guide. If the return deducts mandatory contributions on top of the coefficient, the assessment can be lower than a sketch that taxes the coefficient and subtracts social security only as cash. Confirm that line on the Modelo 3. The calculator follows the sketch.
€200,000, and organised accounting
The regime in this page runs up to €200,000 of annual category B revenue. Above that, organised accounting is generally required. Organised accounting is a different regime: a real profit, income minus the costs the accounting rules allow, not a coefficient from the table. You can choose organised accounting below the cap as well. Some activities are kept out of the simplified regime even under the cap. This page does not reproduce an exclusion list. The registration either leaves you in the regime or it does not.
If you open the activity mid-year, the €200,000 figure here is the annual ceiling the regime is described with. Confirm on Portal das Finanças whether a part year is compared with the full €200,000 or with a shorter yardstick. This page will not invent the fraction. VAT is not part of the revenue you drop into the coefficient. The recibos verdes guide splits a €1,000 fee from the €230 of VAT on top of it.
The independent calculator offers 0.75, 0.35 and 0.15. It has no button for 0.95, 0.50, 0.30, 0.10 or 1.00, and it does not apply the 15 percent top-up. The 0.35 button pairs other services with a 70 percent social-security coefficient. Local lodging can have an IRS coefficient of 0.35 or 0.50 and still sit, in the ordinary case, outside social-security relevant income. Those buttons are the wrong model for alojamento local.
Frequently asked questions
Is 0.75 the social-security coefficient?
0.75 is the IRS taxable share for article 151 services under article 31. Social security uses 70 percent of service revenue as relevant income, then a contribution rate. The two percentages answer different laws. The social security guide does that second sum.
What if my real expenses are above 15 percent?
The article 31(2) rule adds the shortfall when eligible expenses on 0.75 or 0.35 service income are under 15 percent of that revenue. Spending more does not raise the presumed-expense share. The coefficient still applies.
Does SalarioBox add the €2,400 in the example?
The calculator multiplies the month you type by the coefficient and does not apply the 15 percent top-up. The €36,000 article 151 illustration stays at €27,000 of taxable income in the tool, even if your accepted invoices are only €3,000.
Which coefficient is local lodging?
For a house or apartment, 0.50 inside a containment area and 0.35 outside it. That income is not in the 0.15 hospitality row. The calculator's 0.35 button also assumes 70 percent social-security relevant income, which is not the ordinary lodging treatment.
What happens above €200,000 of revenue?
Organised accounting is generally required. That regime taxes a real profit, not an article 31 coefficient. You can also choose organised accounting below the cap. VAT charged on top of a fee is not revenue for this ceiling.