Unemployment Benefit for Self-Employed Workers in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

• You work on green receipts (recibos verdes) and got more than half your income from one client.
• That client ended your contract, and you did not choose to leave.
• You run a small business or manage a company that had to close for reasons outside your control.

Not for you if: you were an employee on a work contract. Read "Claiming Unemployment Benefit in Portugal".

If you are self-employed and most of your income came from one client, you may get a benefit when that client ends your contract. It is called the cessation of activity benefit (subsídio por cessação de atividade). It works much like unemployment benefit for employees. You need at least 360 days of work and paid contributions in the 24 months before the contract ended. In 2026 it pays between €537.13 and €1,342.83 a month. You must ask for it within 90 days, in person, at your job centre.

Who can get it

Social security calls you "economically dependent" if one client gave you more than half your yearly self-employed income. That client can be a company or a person running a business.

You can get the benefit if all of these apply to you:

• You live in Portugal.
• Your contract with that client ended against your will.
• You were economically dependent on the client in the calendar year before the contract ended, and on the date it ended.
• You worked and paid contributions for at least 360 days in the 24 months before the contract ended.
• You are registered as looking for work at the job centre where you live.
• If you are a foreign national, you hold a valid residence permit or another document that lets you work. Refugees and stateless people need valid temporary protection papers.

Time you spent as an employee also counts toward the 360 days, as long as your contributions covered unemployment. So do days on sick pay or parental pay. Days on any unemployment benefit do not count.

What "against your will" means

The rules treat the end of the contract as involuntary when:

• the client ended it;
• the contract simply ran out, and you did not start drawing a pension;
• you ended it yourself, but with just cause (justa causa);
• you stopped working because you hold the official status of a victim of domestic violence.

If you work in a profession with its own pension fund, such as lawyers and solicitors, your fund's rules apply instead. Ask your fund.

How much you get

The benefit is 65% of your past earnings, multiplied by the share of your income that came from that client.

Social security works out your past earnings like this:

1. It takes the earnings recorded for you in the 14 months before the month you became unemployed.
2. It keeps the oldest 12 of those months and adds them up.
3. It divides the total by 360 to get a daily figure.

You can see your recorded earnings online, in the Segurança Social Direta portal, under your contribution record (carreira contributiva).

Here is the official example. Ana's daily figure is €38.89, and 80% of her income came from the client. Her benefit is €38.89 × 0.65 × 0.8, which is €20.22 a day.

The limits

• Maximum: €1,342.83 a month in 2026. The benefit also cannot be more than 75% of your past net earnings (after social security and income tax).
• Minimum: €537.13 a month in 2026. If 75% of your net earnings is below that, you get the lower of €537.13 or your full net earnings.

When you get 10% more

Your daily amount rises by 10% if either of these applies:

• Your spouse or partner is also unemployed and registered at a job centre, and you have children who depend on you.
• You are the only person raising the children who depend on you.

You do not need to declare this benefit on your income tax return.

How long it lasts

Payment starts on the day you apply, not the day the contract ended. How long you are paid depends on your age and on how many months of earnings are on your record.

Time on the cessation of activity benefit itself does not count toward these months.

How to apply

You cannot apply online. You apply in person at the job centre.

1. Ask your client for the unemployment declaration. This is form RP 5064, which the client fills in to say the contract has ended. If the client refuses or cannot do it (for example, because the client has died), the labour inspectorate (ACT) issues it. ACT has 30 days from your request.
2. Register at the job centre where you live. Job centres are run by IEFP, the employment and training institute. You must register before you apply for the benefit.
3. Apply at the job centre. Staff fill in the application (form RP 5062) with you. If you qualify for the extra 10%, ask for form RP 5059 too.
4. Register your bank account. The benefit is paid by bank transfer or by postal order. To add or change your IBAN, log in to Segurança Social Direta and go to your profile, then bank account. The account must be in your name.

The 90-day deadline

You have 90 days in a row from the end of the contract to apply. If you apply late, you lose one day of benefit for each day of delay.

The 90 days stop counting while you:

• are on sick leave (if it lasts more than 30 days, you must tell social security and have it confirmed);
• receive pregnancy, parental, or adoption pay;
• are waiting for ACT to issue your declaration.

If your client says you left by choice

Sometimes the client marks on the declaration that you ended the contract, but you say the client did. In that case, bring proof that you have taken the client to court. If you hold victim of domestic violence status, bring that document.

What you must do while you are paid

The job centre agrees a personal employment plan (Plano Pessoal de Emprego) with you. While you receive the benefit, you must:

• look for work actively and keep proof, such as emails, application letters, and interview attendance notes;
• accept a suitable job, training, or socially useful work the job centre offers;
• turn up whenever the job centre calls you;
• tell the job centre within 5 working days if you move, travel abroad, or fall ill.

If you fall ill, hand in the sick note (CIT) from your SNS doctor within 5 working days.

If you are not from the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland, keep your residence document valid. If it lapses, the job centre can cancel your registration.

A job counts as suitable if, among other things, it pays at least the minimum wage (€920 in 2026). In your first 12 months on the benefit, it must also pay at least your benefit plus 10%.

You can take 30 days in a row each year off these duties. Tell the job centre 30 days in advance.

What makes you lose it

You lose the benefit, and your job centre registration is cancelled, if without good reason you:

• refuse a suitable job;
• refuse, quit, or are removed from training, socially useful work, or another job scheme;
• refuse to set up your employment plan;
• miss a second appointment without a valid excuse.

You have 5 days from a missed appointment to justify it. After a cancellation, you can only register again after 90 days. Fines also apply if you break the rules, and you can lose access to the benefit for up to 2 years if you do not report new work.

If you start working again

Any new work stops the payments, even if it pays less than the benefit. If the new work lasts less than 3 years in a row, you can restart the benefit afterwards. You must register again at the job centre and prove the work ended against your will.

If you still have some other self-employed work when the contract ends, you may get the partial cessation of activity benefit instead. That work cannot be for the same client or a company in its group. The government's example of how it is worked out:

• Take the full benefit you would get (say €800).
• Add 35% of it (€280).
• Subtract what you earn each month as self-employed (say €500).
• You get €580 a month.

If you want to start your own business, the job centre can pay your benefit as one lump sum. Your business plan must be approved first.

Looking for work in another EU country

You can keep the benefit while you look for work in another EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland. You must:

1. stay registered at your Portuguese job centre for at least 4 weeks after you become unemployed;
2. tell the job centre you plan to leave;
3. ask social security for the U2 document;
4. register with the job service in the new country within 7 days of arriving.

You are paid for up to 3 months abroad. You can ask to extend this by 3 more months.

What you cannot combine it with

You cannot receive this benefit at the same time as sick pay, parental pay, or a pension from Portugal or another country. You can combine it with compensation for a work accident or occupational illness, and with the social inclusion benefit for people with a disability.

If you ran a business or managed a company

There is a separate benefit, the professional cessation of activity benefit (subsídio por cessação de atividade profissional). It is for sole traders with a business, such as a café or shop owner, and for company managers and directors. A spouse or partner who worked in the business regularly can also qualify.

The main conditions are:

• 720 days of contributions in this role in the 48 months before the business closed;
• no debts to social security, for you or for the company;
• the business closed against your will, for example after turnover fell by 40% or more, after losses, or after an insolvency that was not your fault;
• registration at your local job centre, and an application within 90 days.

It pays 65% of your past earnings. Ask at your job centre or call social security to check whether you qualify.

Who to contact

• Social security helpline (Linha Segurança Social): 210 545 400 or 300 502 502, working days 09:00 to 18:00.
• Appointments line: 210 548 888 or 300 088 888, working days 09:00 to 18:00.
• Your local job centre (IEFP): for registration and the application.

For how self-employment works while your activity is open, read "Registering as Self-Employed (Recibos Verdes) in Portugal". To close your activity with the tax office, read "Closing a Business in Portugal". If you also had an employment contract, read "Claiming Unemployment Benefit in Portugal".

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Social security decides each claim.

Sources

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

• Instituto da Segurança Social, Guia Prático: Subsídio por Cessação de Atividade para Trabalhadores Independentes Economicamente Dependentes (6007, v1.23, 21 May 2026): conditions, 360 days in 24 months, what counts, 65% formula, Ana example, €537.13 floor and €1,342.83 cap, 75% net limit, 10% increase, payment methods, IBAN, lump sum, start date, duration table, interruptions, 3-year rule, U2 job search abroad, forms RP 5062, RP 5064 and RP 5059, ACT 30 days, 90-day deadline and pauses, court proof, duties, suitable job, 30-day annual break, sanctions, residence document rule, combinations, partial benefit not with the same client, no IRS declaration, helplines (Portuguese only; legal basis Decreto-Lei n.º 65/2012, de 15 de março, and Portaria n.º 480-A/2025/1 (IAS for 2026))
• gov.pt (Instituto da Segurança Social), Pedir o subsídio por cessação de atividade (conditions, 90 days, reduction for late claims) (Portuguese only)
• gov.pt, Trabalhar por conta própria: Apoios e encerramento da atividade (professions with their own pension fund, partial benefit formula and the €580 example, business owners' benefit) (Portuguese only)
• gov.pt (Instituto da Segurança Social), Obter informações sobre o subsídio parcial por cessação de atividade (partial benefit for economically dependent workers, 90 days) (Portuguese only)
• gov.pt (Instituto da Segurança Social), Pedir o subsídio por cessação de atividade profissional (business owners and managers: 720 days in 48 months, contributions up to date, involuntary closure, job centre, 90 days) (Portuguese only)
• Instituto da Segurança Social, Guia Prático: Subsídio por Cessação de Atividade Profissional para Trabalhadores Independentes com Atividade Empresarial (6008, v1.19): who qualifies including a working spouse or partner, examples of involuntary closure (40% turnover fall, losses, insolvency), 65% rate (Portuguese only; legal basis Decreto-Lei n.º 12/2013, de 25 de janeiro)

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