How to read a Portuguese payslip (recibo de vencimento)
A Portuguese payslip (recibo de vencimento) shows your base salary, the meal allowance, social security at 11% and the IRS withheld. Most employees are paid 14 times a year, with holiday pay in the summer and Christmas pay in December.
The lines on your recibo
- Vencimento base: your base monthly salary, paid 14 times a year.
- Diuturnidades: seniority increments, only if your contract or collective agreement provides them.
- Subsídio de alimentação: meal allowance for each day worked, tax-free up to a daily limit.
- Subsídio de férias: holiday pay, one extra month.
- Subsídio de Natal: Christmas pay, one extra month, due by 15 December.
- Segurança Social: your 11% contribution, with no ceiling. Your employer pays more on top.
- IRS (retenção na fonte): income tax withheld with the official tables.
Worked example: €2,500 a month
Single, no dependants, mainland Portugal, 2026, with 22 days of meal allowance in cash
| Vencimento base | €2,500.00 |
|---|---|
| Subsídio de alimentação (22 × €6.15, tax-free) | €135.30 |
| Segurança Social (11%) | −€275.00 |
| IRS (yearly tax spread over 14 payments) | −€439.58 |
| Líquido | €1,920.72 |
Your employer withholds IRS with the official monthly tables, which are close to but not exactly the yearly tax spread over 14 payments; the difference is settled in your tax return. New, lower withholding tables were announced in September 2026. Check your own recibo.
IRS Jovem on your payslip
If you are 35 or under and in your first ten years of work, part of your pay is exempt under IRS Jovem. Your employer only applies it to the monthly withholding if you ask; otherwise you get the benefit later, in your tax return. How much IRS Jovem saves.
Sources
- Segurança Social: employees
- Despacho 233-A/2026: IRS withholding tables
- Autoridade Tributária: IRS Jovem leaflet
- Our methodology and the full list of sources for the calculator
Frequently asked questions
What is the IRS line on my recibo de vencimento?
It is the income tax withheld each month (retenção na fonte), worked out from the official withholding tables for your marital status and dependants. It is an advance: the final tax is settled in your annual IRS return, so you may get a refund or pay a little more.
Is the meal allowance taxed?
Not up to a daily limit: €6.15 a day when paid in cash, or up to 70% more (€10.46) on a meal card or voucher. Anything above the limit is taxed and counts for social security.
What are duodécimos?
Your holiday and Christmas pay (subsídio de férias and subsídio de Natal) are each one extra month. With a written agreement your employer can pay them in twelfths (duodécimos) every month instead of in one go; tax is withheld on them separately from your salary.
This guide explains the general rules for employees and is not personal tax advice. Rules change and individual situations differ, so check with the tax authority or a tax adviser before making decisions. Spotted something out of date? Email [email protected].