IRS Automático

When IRS season opens, you might hear about IRS Automático as a simpler option. For many freelancers in Portugal, it won't apply, but the answer is more nuanced than "never."

IRS Automático is AT's pre-filled IRS return (declaração automática de rendimentos), set up in Art. 58.º-A CIRS. It covers wages (Categoria A) and pensions (Categoria H), and also some self-employment income (Categoria B). Who is covered is set by decree: Decreto Regulamentar 1/2021 first brought in simplified-regime freelancers, and Decreto Regulamentar 3/2024 now holds the rule.

When freelancers can use it

Category B workers on the simplified regime can qualify, but every condition has to hold at once. The ones specific to freelancers:

1. On the simplified regime (regime simplificado); organized accounting is out
2. Registered exclusively for activities listed in the Art. 151 CIRS table, excluding code 1519 "Outros prestadores de serviços"
3. All invoices, faturas-recibo and receipts issued through Portal das Finanças, not through external invoicing software

On top of those come general conditions that apply to everyone. They include: resident in Portugal for the whole year, Portuguese-source income only, no NHR status, no tax benefits beyond a short permitted list (which rules out IFICI), no alimony paid, and no deductions for ascendants.

If you're registered under a specific listed profession in the Art. 151 table and issued all your invoices through Portal das Finanças, you may qualify. If you used code 1519 as a catch-all, you don't.

Why many freelancers can't use it

Code 1519 is a common reason: freelancers whose activity isn't specifically listed in the table often register under it. Foreign income is another, since IRS Automático needs Portuguese-source income only. NHR and IFICI status disqualify too. So do organized accounting and a partial year of residency.

What to use instead

The standard Modelo 3 declaration, which you fill in yourself on Portal das Finanças. For a step-by-step walkthrough of the full process, see the guide on how to file your IRS as a freelancer in Portugal.

For the full eligibility checklist, including which activity codes qualify and when to reject even if you're eligible, see IRS Automático para Recibos Verdes em 2026.

Even if you do qualify, check the pre-filled figures before you accept them: the coefficient, the expense rule and your deductions all affect the result.

If you want to see what last year's declaration contained before starting this year's, the IRS declaration reader translates your comprovativo PDF into language you can follow.