Claiming Subsídio de Doença (Sick Pay) in Portugal in 2026 — A Practical Guide to the CIT Digital Certificate, the 6-Month Prazo de Garantia, the 55-60-70-75% Reference-Remuneration Bands and the €5.37 IAS Floor

Subsídio de Doença — the cash benefit paid by Segurança Social when a registered worker is medically unable to work — is one of the load-bearing social-protection payments in the Portuguese system. The 2026 régime sits on the Decreto-Lei 28/2004 baseline as updated by the Decreto-Lei 133/2012 and the standard Portaria-published IAS revisions. The mechanics matter at the household level: the difference between a CIT delivered electronically the same day, a paper CIT entregue inside the five-day window and a missed window can cost hundreds of euros across a multi-week baixa. This guide walks through the rules, the percentages, the formula and the practical traps for residents — whether employed under conta de outrem, on Recibos Verdes Atividade Independente, on Seguro Social Voluntário or in the doméstico-regime under Decreto-Lei 235/92.

Who qualifies — the prazo de garantia and the índice de profissionalidade

Two conditions gate Subsídio de Doença eligibility. The first is the prazo de garantia (qualifying period): you must have at least six months of contributions to Segurança Social, whether consecutive or interpolated across your contributory history. The second — applied in practice only to part-time or interrupted contributory tapes — is the índice de profissionalidade: 12 days of work registered in the four months immediately before the month preceding the start of the baixa. For most full-time TCO (Trabalhador por Conta de Outrem) and TI (Trabalhador Independente) profiles the prazo de garantia is the binding rule. Voluntary social-insurance subscribers (Seguro Social Voluntário) qualify on a separate longer window — see the residence-band detail below.

The four percentage bands by duration — the 55 / 60 / 70 / 75 ladder

The cash payment rate steps up by duration of the baixa. The four standard bands run as follows, applied to the daily Remuneração de Referência (RR) computed below:

• Days 1-30: 55% of daily RR
• Days 31-90: 60% of daily RR
• Days 91-365: 70% of daily RR
• Day 366 onward: 75% of daily RR

A family / low-income majoração (acréscimo) of 5 percentage points stacks on the 55% and 60% bands (only) if any one of the following applies: (a) RR ≤ €500 per month; (b) household has three or more descendants up to age 16 (or 24 if drawing Abono de Família); (c) any descendant draws the Abono de Família bonificação por deficiência uplift. The acréscimo stops at day 90 — it does not reach into the 70% and 75% tiers.

Hospitalisation, tuberculosis and parental concurrence carve-outs

Three special-case rules sit above the standard ladder:

• Internamento hospitalar (hospitalisation): while internado in a public or private hospital under SNS-registered admission, the rate climbs to 100% of RR from day one — the 3-day waiting period also disappears for TCO subscribers.
• Tuberculose (tuberculosis): the rate runs at 80% of RR for households of up to two members and 100% of RR for households of three or more, with no maximum duration cap.
• Parental concurrence: if a Subsídio Parental (Subsídio de Maternidade / Paternidade) is running concurrently for the same parent, the Subsídio de Doença suspends — the parental subsidy is paid as the higher-protection vehicle. Resume rules follow on the day the parental subsidy ends.

Waiting periods — when does payment actually start?

The 3-day TCO waiting period is the most-missed line in the rule-book. The day on which payment begins depends on the worker's regime:

• TCO (Trabalhador por Conta de Outrem — employee): payment starts on the 4th day of baixa (3-day waiting period). Days 1-3 are not paid.
• TI (Trabalhador Independente — Recibos Verdes Atividade Independente): payment starts on the 11th day of baixa (10-day waiting period). Days 1-10 are not paid.
• Seguro Social Voluntário (voluntary social insurance): payment starts on the 31st day of baixa (30-day waiting period).
• Hospitalisation or emergency tuberculose: no waiting period — payment from day 1.

The Remuneração de Referência (RR) formula

RR is the daily-base figure used by Segurança Social to compute the cash payment. The formula:

RR = (R / 180)

where R is the total of contributory remunerations registered in the first six months of the eight months immediately preceding the month of the start of the baixa (the standard six-month base out of an eight-month window — Segurança Social drops the two months immediately preceding the baixa start to capture a clean pre-event pay tape). Subsídios de Férias and Subsídios de Natal are excluded from the calculation base. The denominator is 180 days (six months × 30 days), so RR is a daily-base number. Multiply by the applicable percentage (55/60/70/75 or carve-out rate) and by the number of paid days in the period to land the cash payment.

The TI (independent worker) version uses a 6-month average of the contributory remunerations declared on the trimestral Modelo 25-DR returns, adjusted on the same 180-day daily-base logic.

The €5.37 daily IAS floor — minimum guarantee for low-RR cases

Where the standard percentage applied to RR delivers a daily figure below the IAS-indexed minimum, the 30%-of-IAS floor kicks in. With the 2026 IAS set by Portaria 480-A/2025/1 at €537.13, the daily IAS is €17.90 (€537.13 ÷ 30) and the 30%-of-IAS daily minimum runs at €5.37. The floor applies to all bands across the full duration of the baixa — Subsídio de Doença will never fall below €5.37 per paid day regardless of how the RR-based formula computes.

Maximum durations — TCO 1,095 days vs TI 365 days

The total maximum duration of Subsídio de Doença runs as follows:

• TCO (employees): up to 1,095 days (three years) across the standard cycle, after which the medical case routes onto the Junta Médica process for an Incapacidade Temporária Absoluta transition and eventually toward the Pensão de Invalidez track.
• TI (Recibos Verdes Atividade Independente): up to 365 days (one year) — the shorter ceiling reflects the contributory-asymmetry between TCO and TI regimes.
• Tuberculose: no maximum duration cap.
• Seguro Social Voluntário: up to 365 days.

The CIT — Certificado de Incapacidade Temporária

The CIT is the medical certificate that triggers the payment chain. The 2026 cycle is almost entirely digital — the CIT-Eletrónico (CIT-e) is issued by the SNS médico de família or by a credentialed centro de saúde, hospital or urgência physician and transmitted to Segurança Social in real time without worker-side action. The paper CIT (CIT-Papel) persists only in residual cases — typically private-sector consultations outside SNS — and triggers a five-business-day delivery window: the paper CIT must be delivered to the Segurança Social área de residência service within five business days of issuance, otherwise the subsídio starts on the delivery date rather than the medically-certified baixa start date.

CIT-Papel delivery channels include: the Segurança Social Direta upload (Conta-Corrente menu → Doença → Entregar CIT), the in-person Atendimento at the local Centro Distrital de Segurança Social, or registered post to the Centro Distrital.

Employer-side compensation through the 30-day window — the TCO-specific carve-out

Some Contratos Coletivos de Trabalho (CCT — Collective Labour Agreements) and individual employer contracts top up the 3-day waiting period and the first 30-day band — typical examples include the banking-sector CCT, the public-administration framework (where the first 30 days run at full salary), and the larger industrial-employer CCTs. Always check your CCT or contract — the additional employer-paid days can substantially close the cash-flow gap on the early days of a baixa. The public-sector framework (TCO at the Administração Pública) currently pays at 89% of normal salary across the first month under the Estatuto da Aposentação and the various sector-specific carreiras, rising on the standard 55/60/70/75 ladder against the higher RR base from day 31.

IRS treatment — Categoria A income

Subsídio de Doença is classified as Categoria A income (dependent employment) under the Código do IRS for tax reporting and is declared in the annual IRS Modelo 3 Anexo A. Segurança Social withholds at source the standard IRS retention as applicable — the Modelo 3 reconciliation in April-June of the year following sweeps any over-or-under-withholding into the final colecta. The benefit is not exempt from IRS, but the calculation generally lands in a lower bracket than the equivalent full-salary work because the 55-60-70-75 ladder reduces the gross amount fed into the IRS frame.

Profile-based action items

Eight practical situations and how the rule-book lands on each:

• Lisboa-Porto TCO worker on €1,500 monthly with a 14-day flu baixa: RR ≈ €50/day (R=€9,000 / 180). 3-day waiting → 11 paid days × 55% × €50 = €302.50. CCT may add 3 days at full salary if applicable. CIT-e routes automatically through SNS médico de família.
• Recibos Verdes designer with a 21-day surgery recovery: RR computed off the trimestral Modelo 25-DR declarations averaged across the six-month window. 10-day waiting → 11 paid days × 55% × daily RR. Cash-flow gap on days 1-10 is the standard TI exposure — emergency-savings buffer is the practical hedge.
• Public-sector Administração Pública worker with a 28-day baixa: 89% of normal salary across all 28 days under the public-employer carve-out, no 3-day waiting period gap. CIT-e via SNS médico de família or hospital de função pública.
• Doméstico/a under Decreto-Lei 235/92 with a 5-day baixa: household-employer route — the doméstico is enrolled under the standard Segurança Social Trabalhador independente Doméstico code; 3-day waiting period applies, days 4-5 paid at 55% of the household-employer-declared RR. Worth checking the IAS-floor application here as low Remuneração Convencional bases land close to the €5.37 floor.
• Pregnant worker with a baixa for high-risk pregnancy: the Subsídio de Risco Clínico Durante a Gravidez chapter applies — paid at 100% of RR from day 1 with no waiting period — outside the standard Subsídio de Doença frame.
• Worker hospitalised for 21 days followed by 30 days of home recovery: 100% of RR for the 21 hospitalisation days from day 1, then standard 55% band for the home-recovery days (with a fresh 3-day waiting period? No — the recovery follows the hospitalisation as continuation of the same baixa, no new waiting period applies; the percentage steps to the standard band).
• Tuberculose treatment over 18 months: 80% (1-2 person household) or 100% (3+ person household), no maximum duration cap, no IAS-floor concern given the high replacement rate.
• Foreign worker with cross-border contribution history (EU/EEA): Regulamento (CE) 883/2004 totalisation applies — months of contribution in another EU/EEA Member State (or Switzerland, or UK under the Withdrawal Agreement) count toward the 6-month prazo de garantia. Provide the U1 portable document (Formulário U1, previously E301) from the prior Member State's social-security authority via Segurança Social Direta on submitting the CIT.

How to apply — the practical sequence

1. Visit the médico assistente at your centro de saúde (SNS), or your private consultation, on the day the incapacity begins.
2. The médico issues the CIT — for CIT-e (electronic), no further action needed; for CIT-papel, take the three-copy document.
3. Within 5 business days of CIT-papel issuance: deliver one copy to Segurança Social via SS Direta upload, in-person Atendimento at the Centro Distrital, or registered post.
4. Notify your employer (TCO) within the contractual or CCT-specified window — typically 5 business days — by sending the baixa cover letter and the worker-copy of the CIT-papel (or a printout of the CIT-e if the employer requests it).
5. Monitor SS Direta payment processing: Conta-Corrente → Doença → Pagamentos shows the status of each tramo. Payment runs through the worker's NIB on a 30-day cadence after the first qualifying period closes.
6. For prorrogações (extensions): the médico assistente issues a CIT-e prorrogação ahead of the prior CIT expiry date; chain continuity preserves percentage-band stacking (the durations are cumulative, not reset on each prorrogação).
7. Junta Médica review: baixas above 365 days route to the Junta Médica review at the local centro de saúde for clinical reassessment. Adverse opinion can trigger the move toward the Pensão de Invalidez track.

Common traps and the fixes

• Missed CIT-papel 5-day window: Subsídio start moves to the delivery date, not the medical incapacity date — keep the registered-post receipt for any disputes.
• Wrong NIB on file: payments bounce — update via SS Direta → Identificação → Conta Bancária before the first qualifying period closes.
• Concurrent employment income declared: any earned income in the baixa period must be declared via SS Direta; failure leads to claw-back plus juros de mora at the standard 4.142% taxa (2026 reference).
• Multiple baixas in 12 months: the duration ladder is cumulative — a fresh baixa within the previous 12-month window stacks days at the band where the prior baixa left off, not at the 55% reset.
• Tax-credit interaction: Subsídio de Doença days reduce the standard Categoria A automatic deduction of €4,462.15 proportionally only if the worker drops below the full-year contributory baseline — usually neutral on the annual IRS frame.

The official sources

The load-bearing legislation: Decreto-Lei 28/2004 of 4 February as updated through Decreto-Lei 133/2012, Lei 110/2009 (Código dos Regimes Contributivos do Sistema Previdencial de Segurança Social) for the contributory base, the annual IAS Portaria (currently Portaria 480-A/2025/1 for the €537.13 2026 IAS reference), the Código do IRS for the Categoria A treatment, the Decreto-Lei 235/92 for the doméstico-régime carve-out, the Regulamento (CE) 883/2004 for EU/EEA cross-border totalisation, and the relevant Contratos Coletivos de Trabalho for the employer-side top-ups. The administrative anchor sits at the Segurança Social Direta portal (seg-social.pt) for the SS Direta tramos and at the SNS portal (sns24.gov.pt) for the CIT-e issuance trail. Calls to the Linha Segurança Social on 300 502 502 cover the standard worker-facing queries on processing status.