Your Portuguese payslip (recibo de vencimento) explained (2026)
A Portuguese payslip is short: earnings at the top, then two main deductions, Social Security at 11% and IRS withheld at source, then net pay. The details worth checking are the meal allowance, the holiday and Christmas subsidies and the withholding table your employer used.
Check your own payslip. Upload it and every line is explained, the rates verified and the questions for HR written for you. Free, nothing stored. Decode my payslip
Earnings
Vencimento base (base salary), plus seniority supplements (diuturnidades) under some collective agreements, overtime (trabalho suplementar), night work and other allowances. You are entitled to 14 payments a year: a holiday subsidy (subsídio de férias) and a Christmas subsidy (subsídio de Natal), each worth a month's salary. They are usually paid in June or July and in November or December, or partly spread over the year in twelfths (duodécimos) if you agree.
Meal allowance
The subsídio de refeição is paid per day worked. In 2026 it is free of tax and Social Security up to 6.15 EUR a day in cash or 10.46 EUR a day on a meal card; anything above is treated as salary. Days of holiday or sick leave normally do not count.
Social Security
You pay 11% of gross pay, including the holiday and Christmas subsidies. Your employer pays 23.75% on top, which is not deducted from you. There is no ceiling.
IRS withheld at source
Retenção na fonte is an advance on your income tax, taken from official tables published each year. The table depends on where you live (mainland, Azores or Madeira), whether you are single or married with one or two incomes, and your number of dependants. Since 2023 the tables work as a marginal rate minus a fixed amount, so a small raise no longer pushes your whole salary into a higher rate. In 2026, monthly pay up to 920 EUR has no withholding, and the yearly IRS rates run from 12.5% to 48%. The holiday and Christmas subsidies are withheld separately, as if each were a month's pay. If you are under 35, IRS Jovem exempts part of your income in your first years of work; ask your employer to apply it.
What to check every month
Your pay against the minimum wage (920 EUR a month in 2026) and your collective agreement; the meal allowance against days worked; the withholding table matches your situation (an employer that does not know you are married or have children uses the single, no-dependants table); overtime rates; your holidays (at least 22 working days a year). Payslop runs these checks for free.
Check your own payslip. Upload it and every line is explained, the rates verified and the questions for HR written for you. Free, nothing stored. Decode my payslip
Questions people ask
Is it better to take the subsidies in duodécimos?
The total gross pay and the yearly tax are the same either way. Duodécimos only change when you receive the money: a little more each month instead of two larger payments.
Is a meal card better than cash?
The tax-free limit is higher on a card (10.46 EUR a day against 6.15 EUR), but the card can only be spent on food.
Do I have to file an IRS return?
Most employees do, between 1 April and 30 June of the following year. Simple cases can use IRS Automático, which pre-fills the return for you to confirm.
Related guides
Indicative rules as of October 2026. Not tax or legal advice.