Profiles we support · Tech & IT
IT consultants & freelance developers:settle in Portugal and invoice compliantly
You are a developer, software engineer, cloud or data consultant, and you are considering Portugal. The good news: your tech profile often qualifies for the simplest status, the Trabalhador Independente. The honest caveat: the IFICI (the “NHR 2.0”) is not automatic, and the 100% foreign-client trap excludes many of them. I am a consultant in company formation and setup, I create your structure, I support you at the bank, and I connect you with a Contabilista Certificado for accounting and recibos verdes.
75+ entrepreneurs supported since 2025 · Lisbon, Portugal
The most common status
Trabalhador Independente: simplified regime & recibos verdes
To start out as a solo tech freelancer, the Trabalhador Independente (category B of the IRS) is almost always the starting point. Here are the 2026 reference points in Portuguese terminology, orders of magnitude, not a calculation of your case, which the partner Contabilista Certificado quantifies.
- Trabalhador Independente (category B)
- The self-employed status tied to your personal NIF: no company, no capital, just an opening of activity (“início de atividade”) with the Autoridade Tributária. It is the functional equivalent of a sole-trader freelancer, not to be confused with a Unipessoal Lda.
- Simplified regime (regime simplificado)
- Available as long as your turnover stays below €200,000/year. No organised bookkeeping required: tax is computed on a flat-rate base, which clearly simplifies management in your early days.
- ~0.75 coefficient for services
- For services, a coefficient of about 0.75 applies: IRS is computed on ~75% of turnover (i.e. a flat-rate deduction of about 25%), then the progressive IRS scale applies. This is a reference point, not your actual rate.
- Recibos verdes (recibos eletrónicos)
- Each service is invoiced via an electronic recibo verde issued on the Finanças portal. It is the central obligation of the Trabalhador Independente: with no recibo verde issued, there is no compliant invoice.
- Withholding at source (retenção na fonte)
- Depending on your situation and your client, withholding at source may apply to your invoices. The rules vary (thresholds, first year of activity, private or professional clients): a point to frame with the partner accountant.
- Social security (Segurança Social)
- The Trabalhador Independente contributes to Segurança Social on an income base set quarterly. An exemption from contributions usually applies in the first year of activity. The amounts depend on your declared income.
Your clients abroad
Invoicing your FR/EU clients from Portugal
Most of the tech freelancers I support keep clients in France or elsewhere in the EU. That is perfectly possible, but there is a basic rule to understand: once you are a Portuguese tax resident, your worldwide income is taxable in Portugal, including what you invoice to a French client. Your client's location does not change where you are taxed; your tax residence does.
The awkward question, handled honestly
IFICI: are you really entitled to it?
The IFICI (Incentivo Fiscal à Investigação Científica e Inovação, nicknamed “NHR 2.0”) offers a 20% IRS rate on eligible activity income, for 10 years, provided you have not been a Portuguese tax resident in the previous 5 years. For a tech profile, it is appealing, but it is not automatic, and many nomads discover too late that they are not eligible. Here is the truth, with no promise.
What works in your favour
Developers and qualified technical profiles probably feature among the highly qualified professions of Anexo I (engineers, ICT specialists). If you practise one of these listed professions, in the right framework, the IFICI may apply.
The 100% foreign-client trap
Many tech freelancers are NOT eligible: a profession outside the list, or an activity geared 100% towards a foreign employer/client without a link to an eligible Portuguese company. Being a developer is not enough, it is the exact framework of your activity that decides.
I am not a tax adviser and I never decide your eligibility for you. My role: ask the right questions, give you an honest reference point, and connect you with a partner tax adviser for the regulated decision.
When the freelancer grows
When to move to a Unipessoal Lda
The Trabalhador Independente is ideal to start with, but it has its limits as the activity grows. Moving to a company (Unipessoal Lda) becomes relevant in several cases. Here are the signals I look at with you, the final decision is made with the partner accountant and tax adviser.
Your turnover rises
Above a certain level of profit, the IRC of a Unipessoal Lda (19%, or 15% SME on the first €50,000 of taxable profit) can become more favourable than the progressive IRS scale on ~75% of your turnover.
Your clients require a company
Some principals, large accounts or platforms prefer to contract with a legal entity (NIPC) rather than a self-employed individual. The Unipessoal Lda meets that expectation.
You want to separate assets and activity
The Unipessoal Lda creates a separate legal entity with a share capital of €1 per partner. Liability is in principle limited to contributions, which clearly separates your personal assets from the activity.
You structure your remuneration
Salary, dividends, reinvestment: a company opens remuneration trade-offs that a Trabalhador Independente does not have. These trade-offs require a personalised tax analysis, not a general rule.
The right word
“Trabalhador Independente”, not “auto-entrepreneur”
In Portugal, there is no auto-entrepreneur, EURL or expert-comptable. You say Trabalhador Independente (the self-employed in category B), Unipessoal Lda (the single-partner company, €1 capital), NIF (your personal tax number) and NIPC (the company's), recibos verdes (your electronic invoices) and Contabilista Certificado (the accountant registered with the Ordem dos Contabilistas Certificados). Using the right term from the start spares you costly misunderstandings with the administration and your partners.
- Do I need a company to invoice as a freelancer in Portugal?
- No, not necessarily. Most tech freelancers start as Trabalhador Independente (category B), with no company or capital: you simply open an activity (“início de atividade”) and issue recibos verdes. A company (Unipessoal Lda) becomes relevant as the activity grows, a point we look at together.
- I invoice French clients: where am I taxed?
- If you are a Portuguese tax resident, your worldwide income is taxable in Portugal, including what you invoice to French or EU clients. Your client's location does not change where you are taxed. The 1971 France-Portugal treaty avoids double taxation, but its reading depends on your case: that is a topic for the partner tax adviser.
- As a developer, am I entitled to the 20% IFICI?
- Maybe, but it is not automatic. Developers and qualified technical profiles probably feature among the Anexo I professions, which is a favourable point. But many freelancers are not eligible, particularly those whose activity is geared 100% towards a foreign client or employer without an eligible link. Take the eligibility test, then confirm with a partner tax adviser, I never decide for you.
- How does the simplified regime work for an IT freelancer?
- As long as your turnover stays below €200,000/year, you can fall under the simplified regime: for services, a coefficient of about 0.75 applies, so IRS is computed on about 75% of your turnover (flat-rate deduction of about 25%), then the progressive IRS scale applies. This is a reference point, not your actual rate: the partner Contabilista Certificado quantifies your situation.
- Are you an accountant or a tax adviser?
- No. Audrey Marques is a consultant in company formation and setup in Portugal, not an accountant, tax adviser or lawyer. I create your structure, I support you at the bank-account opening, and I connect you with a Contabilista Certificado (registered with the Ordem dos Contabilistas Certificados) for accounting and recibos verdes, and with a tax adviser for tax matters.
Disclaimer
This page is for information only and does not constitute personalised legal, accounting or tax advice. Business Portugal is neither an accounting nor a tax practice: accounting (recibos verdes included) is handled by a partner Contabilista Certificado and tax matters by a partner tax adviser. The figures quoted (simplified coefficient, €200,000 threshold, IRC 19%/15%, IVA 23%, IFICI 20%) are current as of 2026 and subject to change with each Finance Act (Orçamento do Estado). Your situation depends on your individual case and on the 1971 France-Portugal tax treaty. For an analysis of your project, book a meeting.
Let's talk about your move
A first free conversation, with no commitment, to frame your status (Trabalhador Independente or Unipessoal Lda), your FR/EU invoicing and your real IFICI eligibility. We look at your situation, identify the right partners, and move forward together.
No commitment · Tech freelancer support · Lisbon, Portugal