Deduções Específicas
Specific Deductions
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IRS deductions applied to each income category before tax rates are calculated. For Category B (self-employment), the simplified regime's deemed cost coefficient acts as the specific deduction. For Category A employees, there's a fixed deduction of €4,462 or actual mandatory contributions if higher.
The Portuguese IRS calculation has two layers of deductions: deduções específicas (specific deductions) that reduce your gross income to a taxable base, and deduções à coleta (collection deductions) that reduce the actual tax owed. Understanding both helps you verify your tax simulation makes sense.
How deduções específicas work for freelancers
For Category B income on the simplified regime, the specific deduction is implicit in how the regime works. Rather than deducting actual business expenses (which would require receipts and bookkeeping) the simplified regime applies a deemed cost coefficient.
For professional services: 75% of gross income is considered taxable. The 25% that isn't taxed is, effectively, your specific deduction.
For goods sales: the coefficient is different, the taxable percentage is higher, reflecting that goods businesses have larger costs but those costs are factored differently.
In practical terms, if you earned €40,000 from consulting services in 2025:
- Gross income: €40,000
- Deemed cost deduction (25%): €10,000
- Taxable income (base for progressive rates): €30,000
This happens automatically. You don't claim the deduction separately.
Social Security contributions as an additional deduction
On top of the coefficient, you can deduct actual Social Security contributions paid from your taxable Category B income. This goes in Campo 501 of Anexo B.
If you paid €3,000 in Social Security in 2025, that €3,000 is subtracted from your €30,000 taxable income, reducing your IRS base to €27,000.
This is worth filling in correctly. It's a real deduction, and forgetting it means overpaying.
Deduções à coleta: the separate category
After the specific deductions set your taxable income and the progressive rates are applied, a second layer of deductions kicks in, deduções à coleta. These come off the tax amount directly:
- Health expenses (30% of invoiced amounts, up to a ceiling)
- Education expenses
- Housing loan interest (for older loans)
- e-fatura credits, from your household spending categorized through the tax authority's system
- Retirement savings contributions
These are declared in Anexo H and pre-filled from your e-fatura data and AT records. Reviewing them is part of the IRS preparation process, the obligation timeline includes a February window to confirm your e-fatura expense categories before the IRS filing season opens.
Frequently asked questions
What are deduções específicas?
Deduções específicas are income-category deductions applied in the IRS calculation before tax rates are applied. They reduce your gross income to a taxable base. For employees (Category A), there's a fixed deduction of €4,462 per year or actual mandatory Social Security contributions, whichever is higher. For freelancers (Category B), the simplified regime's coefficient structure acts as the specific deduction.
How do deduções específicas apply to freelancers on the simplified regime?
For Category B income under the simplified regime, the coefficient structure determines your taxable base. For professional services, 75% of gross income is taxable, meaning 25% is effectively deducted as a presumed cost. Additionally, actual mandatory Social Security contributions paid are deductible from your taxable income in Anexo B, Campo 501.
Are deduções específicas the same as tax deductions from expenses?
No. Deduções específicas are income-category deductions applied before the tax base is set. Separately, there are personal deductions (deduções à coleta) applied after tax is calculated, these cover health expenses, education, housing interest, and the e-fatura credits. Both types reduce your final tax bill, but at different stages of the calculation.
Do I need to do anything to claim my deduções específicas as a freelancer?
No active step required. The simplified regime coefficient (25% deemed cost for services) is applied automatically. For Social Security contributions, you declare the total paid in Campo 501 of Anexo B. The system calculates the rest.
Related terms
Portugal's personal income tax: the annual tax that solo entrepreneurs pay on their individual income, declared each spring for the previous year's earnings.
Personal Income TaxIRSThe English name for IRS (Imposto sobre o Rendimento das Pessoas Singulares): the annual tax on individual income in Portugal, including freelance and self-employment earnings.
Categoria BCategory B: Business and Professional IncomeThe IRS income category for self-employment income in Portugal. Covers freelancers, sole traders, and independent professionals. Declared in Anexo B of the Modelo 3 IRS return.
Regime SimplificadoRegime Simplificado de Tributação · Simplified Tax RegimePortugal's simplified tax regime for solo entrepreneurs and small businesses, where taxable income is calculated using fixed coefficients applied to gross revenue.
Anexo BAnnex B: Self-Employment Income (Simplified Regime)The IRS annex where solo entrepreneurs on the simplified regime declare their self-employment income (Category B). Contains your gross revenue, withholding tax, and activity codes.