Portuguese IRS Filing (Modelo 3)
This skill is the working model for assisting with IRS — Imposto sobre o Rendimento das
Pessoas Singulares, Portugal's personal income tax — filed annually on Modelo 3.
Not tax advice; verify the income year. The structure below (categories, anexos,
residency logic, the filing window) is stable year to year. Rates, brackets, deduction
caps, and regime eligibility change every year and are set in the annual Orçamento do
Estado. Always confirm year-specific figures against the AT Portal das Finanças
before relying on a number. When unsure of a current figure, say so — never invent a rate.
1. Who must file
A taxpayer generally must submit Modelo 3 unless they qualify for dispensa de declaração or
fall fully under IRS automático and accept the pre-filled return. Common triggers that
require a manual Modelo 3:
- Self-employment / business income (Categoria B) outside the narrow auto cases.
- Income obtained abroad (Categoria — any — earned outside Portugal → Anexo J).
- Rental income (Categoria F), capital gains (Categoria G), most capital income not at
final withholding.
- Claiming benefits/regimes that the automatic return doesn't cover (e.g. IFICI, certain
deductions, transparência fiscal).
Tax residents are taxed on worldwide income; non-residents only on Portuguese-source
income. Residency (183-day rule / habitual abode) drives the entire return — establish it first.
2. Income categories
| Cat. | Income type | Primary anexo |
|---|
| A | Dependent employment | Anexo A |
| B | Self-employment / business / professional | Anexo B (simplified) or Anexo C (organized accounting) |
| E | Capital (interest, dividends) | Anexo E |
| F | Property / rental | Anexo F |
| G | Capital gains & increments | Anexo G (taxable) / Anexo G1 (exempt or grandfathered) |
| H | Pensions | Anexo A |
(Categories C and D as standalone income types were merged into B in earlier reforms; treat
business/professional income as Category B.)
3. Anexo catalog — selection logic
Select anexos by the income and circumstances present. The rosto (cover/main form) is always
filed; attach anexos as follows:
- Anexo A — Category A (employment) and H (pensions).
- Anexo B — Category B under the simplified regime (regime simplificado).
- Anexo C — Category B under organized accounting (contabilidade organizada).
- Anexo D — income imputed under fiscal transparency (transparência fiscal) /
inheritance undivided estates passing through.
- Anexo E — capital income (Category E) not exhausted by final withholding, or where
englobamento (aggregation) is elected.
- Anexo F — property income (Category F): rents, less allowable expenses.
- Anexo G — capital gains/increments (Category G): real estate, securities, etc.
- Anexo G1 — non-taxable / exempt gains and grandfathered pre-1989 real estate.
- Anexo H — deductions à coleta and tax benefits (benefícios fiscais).
- Anexo I — income of an undivided inheritance (herança indivisa).
- Anexo J — income obtained abroad and foreign accounts (IBAN/accounts disclosure).
- Anexo L — non-habitual resident (NHR) / where applicable the successor regime
reporting. NHR is closed to new entrants; the successor is IFICI (see §6).
- Anexo SS — social-security annex for self-employed (linked to Category B activity).
Rule of thumb: one anexo per income type per holder. In a joint return, income is reported
per holder (sujeito passivo A / B) and dependents are listed on the rosto.
4. Household & filing options
- Married / unidos de facto: may file jointly (tributação conjunta) or separately
(tributação separada). Default is separate; joint must be elected. Compare both — the better
option depends on income split and deduction interaction.
- Dependents: listed on the rosto; drive per-dependent deductions and the e-Fatura split.
- Ascendentes living with the household can add deductions under conditions.
5. Filing window & process
- Window: the Modelo 3 is filed 1 April – 30 June of the year following the income
year (e.g. 2025 income → filed Apr–Jun 2026). Confirm the exact dates for the year — they
are reaffirmed annually.
- Channel: submitted electronically on the Portal das Finanças (NIF + password).
- IRS automático: for simple profiles (mostly Cat. A/H, Portuguese-source) AT pre-fills a
return; the taxpayer validates/accepts or switches to a manual Modelo 3.
- Refund / payment: after assessment (liquidação), AT issues a refund or a payment note.
6. Deductions à coleta (Anexo H) — buckets
Deductions reduce the coleta (tax due), most fed by e-Fatura-validated invoices and each
subject to a per-year cap (verify current caps):
- General family expenses (despesas gerais familiares).
- Health (saúde) — incl. reduced-VAT/exempt health.
- Education & training (educação e formação).
- Housing — rent (rendas) or mortgage interest on pre-cutoff contracts.
- Homes / care (lares).
- Dependents and ascendants (fixed per-person amounts).
- VAT incentive by sector (dedução de IVA — restaurants, repairs, hairdressers, vet, etc.).
- PPR / retirement-savings and other benefícios fiscais.
→ For matching invoices to these buckets, use the efatura-reconciliation skill.
7. Special regimes
- IRS Jovem: partial exemption of Category A/B income for qualifying young taxpayers in
the first years of work, on a declining schedule. Verify age/eligibility/percentages for the
year — they were revised recently.
- IFICI (Incentivo Fiscal à Investigação Científica e Inovação): the successor to NHR
for new entrants. Classic NHR is closed to new registrations but continues for those
already enrolled within its term. Don't conflate them.
- Regime simplificado vs organized accounting (Cat. B): the simplified regime applies
coefficients to gross income; organized accounting uses actual books. Threshold-driven.
8. Working method (for the agent)
- Establish residency (resident / non-resident; arrivals/departures mid-year).
- Inventory income by category and by holder.
- Map categories → anexos using §3; list every required anexo explicitly.
- Decide household option (joint vs separate) and list dependents/ascendants.
- Gather deductions and reconcile via e-Fatura (
efatura-reconciliation).
- Flag regimes (IRS Jovem, IFICI, simplified vs organized).
- Produce a filing checklist + open questions, then hand to
pt-tax-reviewer for an
independent correctness pass before submission.
- Surface every year-specific number as "verify against AT for {year}" rather than
asserting a figure you are not certain is current.
Output
When asked to prepare or explain a filing, produce:
- The residency determination and worldwide-vs-source scope.
- A per-holder anexo list with the reason each is included.
- The household option recommendation (with the trade-off).
- A deductions checklist tied to e-Fatura buckets.
- A list of regimes to confirm and open questions / missing data.
- An explicit "verify for the income year" note on any rate/cap/threshold.