Freelancer net income under each regime

Simplificado (regime simplificado) uses a coefficient of your revenue as the taxable base — 75% for services (25% presumed costs), 15% for goods (85% presumed costs). No bookkeeping required. Organizada (contabilidade organizada) taxes actual profit — revenue minus documented expenses — but requires a certified accountant and monthly bookkeeping.

When your real, documented expenses exceed the presumed cost coefficient (25% of revenue for services), and the tax savings outweigh the ~€1,500/year accounting fee. Broadly: high-expense freelancers (physical goods, equipment-heavy work, subcontractors) benefit; pure knowledge-work freelancers usually don't.

The 2025 CIRS progressive brackets for continental Portugal (Portaria n.º 292-A/2024): 13.25% at the bottom to 48% at the top, plus the solidarity surcharge above €80,000 (CIRS Art 68-A). Segurança Social: 21.4% on 70% of relevant income. Açores discount: 20% off the IRS brackets (DLR 1/2024/A). IRS Jovem rates: 100%/75%/50%/25%/25% exemption, cap 55× IAS ≈ €28,737 (CIRS Art 12-B).

New self-employed workers (trabalhadores independentes) who have not been registered as self-employed in the past 12 months are exempt from Segurança Social contributions for the first 12 months of activity (CRAS Art 150-151). Toggle it on to see the difference — it can mean €3,000–€5,000 extra take-home in year one.

No. Regime is chosen at Início de Atividade or during the March-to-March window at Portal das Finanças (Alteração de Atividade). The choice locks for the year. If revenue exceeds €200,000 in a year, CIRS Art 28 nº 4 requires you to move to Contabilidade Organizada.

When you invoice a company (pessoa coletiva), they are required to withhold 25% of the gross amount at source (CIRS Art 101 nº 1 al. b). This is not an extra cost — AT deducts these withholdings from your annual IRS bill. Toggle it on to see the estimated cash flow impact: the amount withheld during the year is a pre-payment against your final tax.