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Giving 1% of Your Income Tax to a Charity in Portugal

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

Send 1% of the income tax you already owe to a charity, church, or cultural body in Portugal, free. How to choose one on the Portal das Finanças.

The Portugal Brief 6 min read

Giving 1% of Your Income Tax to a Charity in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You file a Portuguese income tax (IRS) return, whatever your nationality.
  • You want part of your tax to go to a charity, church, environmental group, or cultural body.
  • You help run an association and want it to receive this money.

Not for you if: you want to know how to file the whole tax return. Read Filing Your Annual Income Tax Return (IRS) in Portugal instead.

When you file your IRS return, you can send 1% of the tax you owe to a charity or other approved body. This is called consignação do IRS (assigning your IRS). It costs you nothing. You do not pay more tax and you do not get a smaller refund; the money comes out of the State's share.

You choose the body on the Portal das Finanças by the end of March, or on the return itself when you file between 1 April and 30 June. You can also give your VAT invoice deduction, but that one does cost you.

The two options

There are two separate things you can give. Do not mix them up.

Giving your IRSGiving your VAT deduction
What you give1% of your assessed income tax (0.5% to youth and student associations)Your deduction for asking for invoices with your NIF
Does it cost you?NoYes: a smaller refund or more tax to pay
Who can receive itAny approved bodyThe same body you chose for your IRS, but not youth or student associations

You choose one body. Your IRS share and your VAT deduction, if you give it, both go to that same body.

Who can receive your 1%

The body must work in one of six areas: social or charitable work, religion, the environment, culture, sport, or youth and students. It must also have applied and been approved.

You can give 1% of your tax to:

  • A private social solidarity institution (IPSS), such as many care homes and food banks.
  • A public-interest body with charitable or humanitarian aims.
  • A church or religious community established in Portugal.
  • An environmental organisation with public-interest status.
  • A cultural, youth, or sporting body with public-interest status.

You can give 0.5% to a youth association, an association of a youth character, or a student association.

The rate was 0.5% for everyone until late 2024. It has been 1% since tax on 2024 income, except for youth and student associations, which stay at 0.5%. If you read 0.5% for a charity or church, the source is out of date.

Finding the body's tax number

You identify the body by its tax number (NIF), not its name. So you need the right number.

Finanças publishes a list of approved bodies each year, as a spreadsheet. The latest list, for the 2025 tax year, has about 5,500 churches and charities. It shows each body's NIF, name, and town. Search the town column to find bodies near you.

If the body you want is not on the list, ask it directly whether it is approved and for its NIF.

How to choose your body

You can choose at any of three moments. Pick the one that suits you.

Option 1: in advance, by the end of March

  1. Log in to the Portal das Finanças.
  2. Go to "Dados do Agregado IRS" (household details for IRS).
  3. Open "Entidade a Consignar IRS/IVA" (body to receive IRS and VAT).
  4. Enter the body and choose whether to give your IRS, your VAT deduction, or both.

Your choice is then filled into your return for you. It also counts if you never confirm or file a return. This is the safest option.

Option 2: when you accept IRS Automático

If your return is pre-filled (IRS Automático), choose the consignment option before you submit. Then pick IRS, VAT, or both.

Option 3: on the return itself

If you fill in the Modelo 3 return yourself, use box 11 (Quadro 11) on the cover sheet (folha de rosto). Enter:

  1. The type of body.
  2. Its NIF.
  3. Whether you are giving your IRS, your VAT deduction, or both.

You file the return between 1 April and 30 June. For the rest of the return, see Filing Your Annual Income Tax Return (IRS) in Portugal.

Giving your VAT deduction: it costs you

Finanças says this plainly: if you give your VAT deduction, you get a smaller refund or pay more tax. The cost is exactly the deduction you give up.

The deduction is 15% of the VAT you and your household paid on invoices with your NIF in certain sectors, up to €250 per household. The sectors are:

  • Car and motorbike repair and servicing.
  • Restaurants, cafés, and accommodation.
  • Hairdressers and beauty salons.
  • Vets.
  • From 2026 invoices, bookshops, theatre, music, and other arts, venues, libraries, museums, and historic sites.

You also get 100% of the VAT on monthly public transport passes and tickets, within the same €250 limit.

These invoices must appear on e-Fatura, the invoice system. See Validating Your Invoices on e-Fatura in Portugal.

If you want to give at no cost to you, give only your IRS.

After you file

Your assessment note (nota de liquidação) shows the body you chose and the amount. Check it to make sure your choice was recorded.

If you filed on time, Finanças must transfer the money to the body by 31 March of the year after you filed. If your assessment is later corrected, the amount given is corrected too.

If you help run an association

Being a worthy cause is not enough. The body must apply to take part. Finanças publishes the list of approved bodies by the first day of the filing period, 1 April. A body approved after that date will not be on the list people use.

Churches, charities, and environmental groups must have asked for the tax benefit before they can receive it. Ask Finanças how to apply.

Youth and student associations apply to the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth (IPDJ), by email to [email protected]:

  1. Prove the association is recognised as a youth, youth-character, or student association.
  2. Ask to be registered as eligible.
  3. Do this by 30 September of the tax year whose tax you hope to receive.

An association that received money for the year before does not need to apply again, unless the benefit was stopped. If it was stopped, it must apply again by 30 September. If it no longer meets the conditions, it must tell IPDJ by 30 September of that year.

Common questions

Is this the same as a tax deduction for a donation? No. Here you are not giving your own money. You are choosing where part of tax you already owe goes. You can still give your own money or time as well, directly to the body you choose.

Can I split my 1% between several bodies? No. You choose one body.

Do I have to choose every year? Finanças does not say whether an earlier choice carries over. Check the Portal or box 11 each year before you file, and check your assessment note afterwards.

Does filing late matter? Yes. The 31 March transfer deadline applies to returns filed on time. File by 30 June.

This guide is general information, not tax advice. Rules change often; check the official source 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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