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Claiming the Young Worker Tax Relief (IRS Jovem) in Portugal

Researched and written with AI tools from official sources. How we make our guides

If you are 35 or under, part of your salary or self-employed income can be tax free for up to 10 years. Who qualifies, the cap, and how to claim it.

The Portugal Brief 6 min read

Claiming the Young Worker Tax Relief (IRS Jovem) in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You are 35 or under and tax resident in Portugal, from the EU or elsewhere.
  • You earn a salary or self-employed income, and you file your own tax return.
  • You have never had NHR or IFICI status.

Not for you if: you are a returning emigrant who lived abroad for five years or more. Compare Claiming the Returning Resident Tax Break (Programa Regressar) first.

IRS Jovem is a partial income tax exemption for young workers. If you are 35 or under and not someone's dependant, part of your salary or self-employed income is tax free for up to 10 years of work. It is 100% in your first year of work income and falls to 25% in years 8 to 10.

The exempt amount is capped at 55 times the IAS (the social support index): €28,737.50 for 2025 income and €29,542.15 for 2026 income. You choose it each year on your tax return. There is no separate application and no degree is needed.

How much is exempt

The percentage depends on which year of work income you are in, not on your age.

Year of work incomeShare of your salary and self-employed income that is exempt
Year 1100%
Years 2 to 475%
Years 5 to 750%
Years 8 to 1025%

The exempt amount can never be more than the yearly cap:

  • 2025 income (filed in 2026): €28,737.50 (55 times the 2025 IAS of €522.50).
  • 2026 income (filed in 2027): €29,542.15 (55 times the 2026 IAS of €537.13).

Income above the exempt amount is taxed as normal.

Exempt income still counts for your rate. The exempt part is added to your other income to work out which tax rate applies to the taxed part. So your rate may be higher than you expect.

A simple example. In 2026 you are in your third year of work income and earn €40,000. The exemption is 75%, which would be €30,000. That is above the cap, so €29,542.15 is exempt. The other €10,457.85 is taxed, at the rate for your total income.

Who qualifies

You qualify for a year if all of these apply:

  1. You are 35 or under on 31 December of that year. The age test applies every year.
  2. You earn work income: a salary (category A), self-employed income (category B), or both.
  3. You are not a dependant on someone else's return. You file as a taxpayer in your own right.
  4. You are still within your first 10 years of work income.
  5. Your tax affairs are in order. You have no unpaid tax debts that are not being dealt with.
  6. You have never had NHR or IFICI, and you have not opted for the returning resident break.

There is no rule about qualifications. The degree requirement in older versions of the relief no longer applies from 2025 income.

Tips from employers are not covered. Tips you receive that are not paid by your employer are taxed at a special flat rate, so they do not count.

How your 10 years are counted

This is where most mistakes happen. The count starts in the first year you earned work income as a taxpayer, not as a dependant. It does not start in 2025, and it does not start when you first claim. Years before 2025 count too.

These years are left out of the count:

  • years with no salary or self-employed income;
  • years when you were declared as a dependant on someone else's return;
  • years when you did not have to file a return.

Left-out years do not use up your 10 years. The count picks up again the next year you have work income.

Example from the tax office. You started work in 2022 at 23 and filed your own returns. In 2025 you are in year 4, so 75% applies. In 2026 you are in year 5, so 50% applies. Your last year is 2031.

If you used an older version of IRS Jovem, those years count. You continue from the year you have reached.

Finanças tells you whether you can claim. The information appears in your automatic return or in your pre-filled return.

If you earned work income abroad before you moved to Portugal, ask Finanças how those years are counted before you file.

How to claim it

You claim it on your yearly return, filed online between 1 April and 30 June. For 2026 income, that is 1 April to 30 June 2027.

  1. Log in to the Portal das Finanças.
  2. Check whether IRS Automático applies to you. If it does, the draft return lets you choose IRS Jovem. Open the draft and check the choice before you confirm it.
  3. Otherwise, file the full return (Modelo 3).
  4. For a salary, go to Anexo A, table 4F.1, and answer Sim (yes) to "pretende beneficiar do regime de IRS jovem?".
  5. For self-employed income, go to Anexo B, table 3E.1, and answer Sim.
  6. If you have both, answer Sim in both annexes. The cap applies to your total.
  7. Simulate, validate, and submit. Check that the assessment shows the exemption, and save your proof of submission.

See Filing Your Annual Income Tax Return (IRS) in Portugal for the full filing steps.

Lower tax from your pay each month

You do not have to wait for the return. If you are employed, tell your employer that you qualify and which year of work income you are in. There is no official form; an email is enough. You do not have to prove you are not a dependant.

Your employer then works out the normal withholding rate on your whole pay, and applies it only to the part that is not exempt. The monthly exempt amount is capped at one fourteenth of the yearly cap.

Withholding is only an advance payment. The final figure comes with the assessment of your return, so you may still pay a little or get a refund.

What you cannot combine

  • NHR. If you have, or ever had, NHR status, you cannot use IRS Jovem.
  • IFICI. If you have, or ever had, IFICI, you cannot use IRS Jovem. See Qualifying for the IFICI Tax Regime That Replaced NHR.
  • The returning resident break. If you opted for it, you cannot use IRS Jovem.

If you might qualify for IFICI, think before you choose. Once you have IFICI, IRS Jovem is closed to you. Work out both, or ask a certified accountant.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Picking the wrong year. Your year is counted from your first year of work income, not from when you first claim.
  • Being declared as a dependant. If your parents include you on their return, you cannot claim for that year.
  • Thinking the cap is an income limit. You can earn more than the cap. Only the exempt part is capped.
  • Confirming the automatic return without looking. Check that IRS Jovem is chosen before you confirm.
  • Ignoring tax debts. Unpaid tax can cost you the relief.

If you have questions, use the e-balcão message service on the Portal das Finanças. You can also call the tax office helpline on 217 206 707 (from abroad +351 217 206 707), on working days from 09:00 to 19:00.

This guide is general information, not tax advice. Rules change; check the official source, or ask a certified accountant (contabilista certificado), before you act.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

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