CAE
Classificação Portuguesa de Atividades Económicas · Economic Activity Code
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The Portuguese classification code for economic activity (CAE-Rev.4 since 2025). Declared when you open your business activity, alongside or instead of an Art. 151 CIRS activity code.
CAE is the code that classifies the economic activity you carry on. It comes from the national classification of economic activities (Classificação Portuguesa de Atividades Económicas). As an individual you choose it yourself when you open your activity on the Portal das Finanças; a company gets its CAE codes from its stated business purpose (objeto social) when it is formed.
The current version is CAE-Rev.4, in force since 1 January 2025 (Decreto-Lei 9/2025). It replaced CAE-Rev.3, so a code you find in an older article may no longer exist.
CAE and the CIRS activity code
A company uses CAE codes only, whatever it does, services included. For an individual there are two classifications, and you can have one or both:
- CAE classifies business income (rendimentos empresariais): selling goods, making things, running a shop.
- The CIRS activity code comes from the Art. 151 CIRS table and classifies professional income: programmers, designers, consultants, translators. A freelancer who only provides those services may have a CIRS code and no CAE.
Many freelancers have both. A programmer, for example, can be registered under CIRS code 1332 (programadores informáticos) and CAE 62100 (atividades de programação informática).
What the CAE does and does not decide
For a freelancer, the IRS simplified regime coefficient and the withholding rate follow the Art. 151 CIRS code and the activity you actually perform, not the CAE. The CIRS code does matter: if it does not match your work, you correct it with a declaração de alterações, and AT can classify your income by what you really do.
The CAE records your registered scope. It is reported in your IRS Anexo B, and an invoice can carry it in an optional field. You can hold one principal CAE and up to 19 secondary ones.
Common CAE-Rev.4 codes for freelancers
| CAE-Rev.4 | Activity | Rev.3 code it replaced |
|---|---|---|
| 62100 | Atividades de programação informática (computer programming) | 62010 |
| 62201 | Atividades de consultoria em informática (IT consulting) | 62020 |
| 70200 | Atividades de consultoria para os negócios e outra consultoria para a gestão (business and management consulting) | 70220 |
| 73110 | Atividades das agências de publicidade (advertising agencies) | 73110 |
| 74120 | Atividades de design gráfico e de comunicação visual (graphic design) | part of 74100 |
| 74300 | Atividades de tradução e interpretação (translation and interpreting) | 74300 |
| 47125 | Comércio a retalho não especializado, por correspondência ou via Internet, sem predominância de produtos alimentares, bebidas e tabaco (non-specialised online retail) | part of 47910 |
Rev.4 split the old design code 74100 into four: industrial and fashion design (74110), graphic design (74120), interior design (74130) and other specialised design (74140). Code 47910 still exists, but it now means intermediation services for non-specialised retail, not selling online yourself.
Choosing the right code
Pick the CAE that most accurately describes your main activity, and check it against INE's CAE platform, which also converts a Rev.3 code to its Rev.4 equivalent. If your activity changes, you update your registration with a declaração de alterações.
For programmers specifically, see CAE vs CIRS: what activity code do you actually need as a programmer? for how the two systems relate and what code 1332 means for your IRS coefficient and withholding.
Perguntas frequentes
What is a CAE code?
CAE stands for Classificação Portuguesa de Atividades Económicas. It's a numeric code that classifies your economic activity, similar to SIC or NAICS codes in other countries. The current version is CAE-Rev.4, in force since 1 January 2025. You declare your codes when you register your activity (abertura de atividade) with the tax authority.
Does my CAE code affect my tax rate?
Not directly. Your IRS simplified-regime coefficient and your withholding rate follow your Art. 151 CIRS activity code and the work you actually do, not the CAE. A software developer, for example, may be registered under CAE 62100, but it is CIRS code 1332 (programadores informáticos) and the programming work itself that decide how the income is taxed. The CAE itself does not set either one.
Do I need a CAE code or a CIRS code?
It depends on what you do, and many freelancers have both. Liberal and professional services (programming, design, consulting) are classified by a CIRS code from the Art. 151 table, and a freelancer who only provides those may have no CAE. Business activity, such as selling goods, is classified by a CAE. A company is different: it can only have CAE codes, whatever it does.
Can I have more than one CAE code?
Yes. You can have one principal CAE and up to 19 secondary ones. An individual with both business and professional income can also hold one principal CIRS code and up to 4 secondary ones. Every activity you carry on has to be declared, so if you start a new one, you add its code with a declaração de alterações.
Termos relacionados
The process of registering as a self-employed worker (trabalhador independente) with the Portuguese tax authority, officially starting your freelance activity.
Regime SimplificadoRegime Simplificado de Tributação · Simplified Tax RegimePortugal's simplified IRS regime for self-employed individuals, where taxable income is calculated using fixed coefficients applied to gross revenue. Companies have a separate simplified regime under IRC.
CIRSCódigo do Imposto sobre o Rendimento das Pessoas Singulares · Personal Income Tax CodeThe Portuguese code governing personal income tax (IRS). Its Art. 151 refers to the table of professional activity codes that individual freelancers register under.