Do I need to file Anexo SS as a freelancer in Portugal?

Yes. All freelancers with Categoria B income under the simplified regime must file Anexo SS as part of their IRS declaration, even if they are not currently paying Social Security contributions. Anexo SS reports your gross income and your main clients. It does not set your contribution base if you are on the simplified regime - your quarterly Declaracao Trimestral does that, from income actually received. Anexo SS sets the base only for freelancers on organized accounting.

What is the IRS filing deadline for freelancers in Portugal?

The IRS filing period runs from April 1 to June 30 each year. The declaration covers income from the previous calendar year. If you owe tax or are due a refund, the settlement typically arrives by the end of August. Submitting early in April is recommended so you have time to correct any errors before the deadline.

What coefficient applies to services income under the simplified regime?

Under the simplified regime, AT applies a coefficient of 0.75 to services listed in the Art. 151 table. This means 75% of that income is taxable and the remaining 25% is assumed to cover your business costs. Services outside the Art. 151 list, filed under CIRS code 1519, use 0.35 instead. The condition for that 25% assumption is that you document at least 15% of your gross income in actual business expenses. If you fall short, AT adds the gap back to your taxable income.

Do I need Anexo A if I had both employment and freelance income in the same year?

Yes. If you had both employment income (Categoria A) and self-employment income (Categoria B) in the same year, you need both Anexo A and Anexo B. Anexo A covers your salary income and any withholding tax your employer deducted. Anexo B covers your freelance income. Both annexes feed into the same Modelo 3 declaration.

What is Quadro 17 in Anexo B and do I need to fill it in?

Quadro 5 in Anexo B, not Quadro 17. If all of your Category B income came from a single entity, Quadro 5 asks you to declare that, and lets you OPT to be taxed under Category A rules instead (Art. 28 n.8 CIRS). It is your election at filing time, not a reclassification AT imposes. The 80% figure often quoted here is a Social Security threshold, not an IRS one: it is where the entidade contratante surcharge rises from 7% to 10%, and economic dependence itself starts above 50%. If a single client dominates your income, check with a tax adviser before filing.

Can I deduct my Social Security contributions in the IRS?

Partly. Social Security contributions you paid during the year count toward the 15% expense requirement in Anexo B, but only up to 10% of your gross income (the cap under Art. 31 n.13 a) of the CIRS). Contributions above that 10% are not lost: Art. 31 n.2 deducts them directly from your net services income, up to the amount of that income, on contributions actually paid. The automatic specific deduction covers the same expense-proof slot as your SS contributions and the larger of the two applies, never their sum. For the 2026 filing campaign, which covers 2025 income, that deduction is €4,462.15.

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August 4, 2026For freelancers

IRS Filing Checklist for Freelancers in Portugal (Anexo B + SS)

By Mikael

Filing IRS in Portugal as a freelancer is different from what employees deal with. You need two annexes most workers never touch: Anexo B for your self-employment income and Anexo SS, which reports your activity to Social Security.

This checklist walks you through what to prepare, which sections matter, and what to check before you submit.

Before the filing period opens (preparation checklist)

The IRS filing period runs from April 1 to June 30 each year. Preparing in March saves time and catches problems while there is still time to fix them.

Confirm your invoices are in e-Fatura

All recibos verdes you issued during the year should appear in your e-Fatura account. The February 25 annual validation deadline matters for your personal deductions, but your declared income in Anexo B needs to match your e-Fatura records. Log in to Portal das Financas, go to "e-Fatura" and download your annual income statement.

Download your annual income declaration

In Portal das Financas, under "Consultar," you can generate an annual summary of all income declared under your NIF. This is your primary source for Quadro 4 in Anexo B.

Gather records for deductible personal expenses

Health invoices, education fees, and housing costs reduce your final tax bill, and e-Fatura feeds them into the assessment automatically - you do not file Anexo H to claim them. Anexo H is for OVERRIDING what the pre-fill got wrong, and for benefits e-Fatura does not carry such as PPR contributions and donations. Check the pre-filled figures before filing either way.

Note your Social Security contributions paid

Your SS contributions from the previous year are partially deductible under Anexo B. Keep the annual statement from the Seguranca Social Direct portal.

Check for any foreign-source income

If you invoiced clients outside Portugal, or received dividends, rental income, or other foreign-sourced income, you may need Anexo J in addition to Anexo B. Foreign income has different treatment and is often the most complex part of a freelancer's IRS.

Modelo 3: which annexes apply to you

Annex	Who needs it
Rosto (cover page)	Everyone
Anexo B	All regime simplificado freelancers with Categoria B income
Anexo SS	All Categoria B freelancers (even those not currently paying SS)
Anexo H	Anyone correcting the pre-filled deductions, or claiming benefits e-Fatura does not carry (PPR, donations)
Anexo A	Only if you also had employment income during the year
Anexo J	Only if you had foreign-source income

If you were a freelancer under the simplified regime for the full year with no other income sources, your filing typically consists of the Rosto, Anexo B, Anexo SS, and Anexo H.

Filling Anexo B: the four fields that determine your tax

Quadro 4 - gross income, broken down by type

Quadro 4 is not a single total. It splits your income across campos by TYPE, and which campo you use decides which coefficient AT applies: campo 403 for services listed in the Art. 151 table (coefficient 0.75), campo 404 for other services (0.35). Getting that wrong changes your taxable income by more than half. The total should reconcile with your e-Fatura annual statement.

Quadro 17 - the 15% expense proof entry

Under the simplified regime, AT applies a coefficient of 0.75 to services listed in the Art. 151 table. That means 75% is taxable and the remaining 25% is assumed to cover your business costs. If you are registered under CIRS code 1519 ("Outros prestadores de servicos") - common for consultants and digital freelancers - your coefficient is 0.35 instead, not 0.75. In your first two years both are reduced (to 0.375 and 0.5625 for services).

The condition: you must have documented at least 15% of your gross services income in actual business expenses. Social Security contributions and the automatic specific deduction do NOT add together toward this - whichever is larger applies, and the SS side is capped at 10% of gross. Contributions above that 10% are not lost: they are deducted from your net income separately under Art. 31 n.2. If your documented expenses still fall short, the gap is added to your taxable income. Read more in the full 15% rule breakdown.

Quadro 6 - withholding tax already paid

If your invoices included withholding tax (retencao na fonte), those deductions appear here. They reduce your final tax due directly. Check your annual income statement from Portal das Financas or your client payment records for the exact withheld amount.

Quadro 5 - income from a single entity (if applicable)

If all of your Category B income came from one entity, Quadro 5 asks you to say so, and lets you OPT to be taxed under Category A rules instead (Art. 28 n.8 CIRS). That is your choice at filing time, not something AT reclassifies for you.

The 80% figure you may have heard belongs to Social Security, not to this quadro: it is where the entidade contratante surcharge rises from 7% to 10%. Economic dependence itself begins above 50% of your income from one client. If unsure, check with a tax adviser before filing.

Filling Anexo SS

First, what Anexo SS does NOT do. If you are on the simplified regime, it does not set your contribution base - your quarterly Declaracao Trimestral does that, from income actually received, with the optional plus-or-minus 25% adjustment. Anexo SS sets the base only for freelancers on organized accounting, where it reports the prior year's lucro tributavel. Its main annual job for everyone else is the entidade contratante reckoning below. Note too that Social Security, not AT, computes contributions.

Report your gross Categoria B income, split by type

Not simply the Anexo B Quadro 4 total. Anexo SS needs the goods-versus-services split, because the coefficients differ: 70% of services income counts as relevant income, against 20% for sales of goods. Several Quadro 4 campos are also excluded from relevant income by default, including intellectual property, capital gains and rental income.

List your main clients (entidades pagadoras)

This is where economic dependence is identified. It begins when a single entity accounts for more than 50% of your income, and it obliges that entity - not you - to pay the entidade contratante contribution: 7% between 50% and 80%, rising to 10% above 80%.

Documented expenses do not reduce your SS base

For a freelancer on the simplified regime, relevant income is the coefficient applied to gross income, and nothing else. The 15% documented-expense mechanism belongs to IRS (Art. 31 n.13), not to Social Security. Declaring expenses will not lower your contributions.

Submit and what to expect

Submit through Portal das Financas at portaldasfinancas.gov.pt. You can submit at any point during the April 1 to June 30 window.

After submission:

Download and save your submission receipt (comprovativo de entrega).
If you are due a refund, it typically arrives by the end of August.
If you owe tax, payment is due by the end of August. The portal will show your tax note (nota de liquidacao) when it is processed.

If you are unsure about your 2025 comprovativo or want to double-check your declared income before filing, you can upload it to the IRS reader to extract the key figures.

How to File Your IRS as a Freelancer in Portugal - the full step-by-step walkthrough
Portugal's 15% Expense Rule: What It Is and How to Meet It
What Is Regime Simplificado?

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Before the filing period opens (preparation checklist)

Modelo 3: which annexes apply to you

Filling Anexo B: the four fields that determine your tax

Filling Anexo SS

Submit and what to expect

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