Portuguese IRS Tax Return for Americans and Britons: Modelo 3

A new resident files the Portuguese personal income tax return, the IRS Modelo 3, once a year. The window runs from 1 April to 30 June for the income of the previous year, the filing is electronic on the Portal das Finanças, and foreign income goes in an annex called Anexo J.

This guide follows the Portal das Finanças pages and the code on the day we read them, 21 October 2026. It is not tax advice, and the tax office decides how the rules apply to you. For Americans the Portuguese return is separate from the U.S. return, and for Britons from the UK one: see the last sections.

Who has to file a Portuguese IRS return?

The Portal das Finanças page on the Modelo 3 says IRS applies to all income, including income from outside Portugal, for resident citizens, and only to income obtained in Portugal for non-residents. Its FAQ on filling in the return sets out who files:

• Residents: they file for all their income. If there is a household, the income of all its members is combined.
• Non-residents: only for income obtained in Portugal that was not subject to final withholding at a flat (“liberatória”) rate. The Modelo 3 page says the same in other words: non-residents file only if they have Portuguese income that was not subject to withholding.

Whether you are resident is a separate question, answered by article 16 of the code. See when you become a Portuguese tax resident. Working in Portugal is covered in working in Portugal as an American or a Briton.

The income the return covers falls into categories: employment (A), self-employed business and professional income (B), capital (E), rental (F), capital gains and other property gains (G) and pensions (H). The FAQ on the Modelo 3 and its annexes lists them, and adds that IRS taxes income whether in cash or in kind, wherever it is obtained and in whatever currency.

Are you exempt from filing?

Article 58 of the code, and the Portal das Finanças page on exemption, say you are exempt only if in the tax year you received nothing but the following, alone or together:

The exemption does not apply if you choose joint taxation, receive temporary or lifetime annuities that are not pensions, receive income in kind (the page’s example is a company car), receive maintenance payments above €4,104, or hold assets in countries, territories or regions with a clearly more favorable tax regime listed in article 57(7). The last item was added by Decree-Law 13/2025 of 6 March 2025. The pages do not list the countries, so we do not either.

Even when exempt, you may file anyway. The tax authority can also issue, on request and free of charge, a certificate of the income communicated to it (article 58(5)).

When is the filing window?

Article 60 of the code says the return is filed electronically from 1 April to 30 June, whether or not 30 June is a working day. It covers the income of the previous year, so income earned in 2026 is declared between 1 April and 30 June 2027.

Two other points from the article:

• A new return is also due within 30 days of any event that changes income already declared, or that creates an obligation to declare income for earlier years (article 60(2)).
• If you have foreign income that gives you the right to a credit for international double taxation and the amount is not determined in the source country by 30 June, the window is extended to 31 December of that year. You must tell the tax authority within the normal period that you meet the conditions, stating the nature of the income and the source country (article 60(3) and (4)). The FAQ on foreign income names the form: Modelo 49.

The tax authority’s “Principais Prazos” page sets out the calendar around the filing. The page names 2026 only for the end of February (2 March 2026). The other dates carry no year on the page; reading them as the dates for the 2025 income is our inference:

What changes in the year you arrive?

The tax authority’s FAQ says that in the years of departure and arrival you are a part year resident, both resident and non-resident. For the period you are resident, you declare all income obtained in Portugal and abroad, and for the period you are not resident, only income produced in Portugal.

Article 57(6) of the code adds that when, in the same year, a taxpayer has two residence statuses in Portugal, they must file one return for each, unless exempt under the general rules. The pages we read do not walk through how the two returns are completed for an arriving foreigner, so ask the tax office about a part year before you file.

How do you file on the Portal das Finanças?

The Modelo 3 page gives the route: on the Portal das Finanças, IRS > Entregar Declaração. The steps it describes:

1. Have a NIF and portal access. The gov.pt guide for migrants says that after getting the NIF you should ask for the portal password using the “Registar-se” option, to consult your tax situation. That this is needed to file is our inference. See how to get a Portuguese NIF.
2. Start from the pre-filled return. The tax authority provides one. The page says to check that all income and deductions are there and correct. You can add annexes and change data before submitting.
3. Check whether the IRS Automático applies. If it does, you confirm a provisional return instead (see below).
4. Submit. The tax authority validates the information and works out the tax to pay or the refund.
5. Keep the proof. After the return is validated, the proof of delivery is available under IRS > Obter Comprovativos.

Does the IRS Automático work for a new resident?

The IRS Automático is a provisional return the tax authority pre-fills. The page lists the conditions, all of which must be met together. Several matter to newcomers: you obtain income only in Portugal, you are resident in Portugal for the whole year, and you have no deductions for international double taxation.

If you do not meet all the conditions, the portal shows a message telling you to file a Modelo 3 under the general terms. If you meet them, do nothing and are not exempt from filing, the tax authority converts the provisional return into a final one at the end of the window and taxes spouses separately. Some conditions are tied to the 2025 tax year, for example having no debts outstanding on 31 December 2025. So a mid-year arrival or foreign income puts you in the Modelo 3 route, but that is our reading of the conditions: the portal tells you which applies.

What if you are married?

The rule is separate taxation, with each spouse or de facto partner filing a return that includes 50% of the income of the dependents. Joint taxation is an option: one return with the income of the whole household, chosen by both partners in the return, valid for that year only (article 59). For the automatic return, the page says both partners must authenticate to get the joint version.

How do you declare foreign income?

The Portal das Finanças page on foreign income says residents must declare in Portugal all income obtained both in Portugal and abroad. Besides the annexes for Portuguese income, you include Anexo J for foreign income. It has these tables:

The FAQ says that in each table you give the tax paid on the income declared and, where relevant, the mandatory social security contributions borne. Tables 2, 3 and 11 take no income. Where income is entered, we read it as the gross amount, before tax paid abroad. The tax paid abroad is counted as a credit for international double taxation in the final calculation in Portugal. The FAQ points to article 81 of the code, which limits the credit to the lower of the foreign income tax paid and the part of the Portuguese tax that corresponds to the income taxable in that country. Where a tax treaty applies, the credit cannot exceed the tax paid abroad as the treaty allows. If the credit exceeds the Portuguese tax in the year, the excess can be deducted in the next five years.

The FAQ adds several rules:

• Only the tax actually borne counts. The amount entered is the tax effectively paid in the source country, not just the amount withheld.
• Foreign interest and dividends count. Even if they are paid into accounts abroad, you declare them.
• The annex is personal. One Anexo J per household member with foreign income. For joint accounts, each holder declares the share they hold.
• Accounts must be listed even if they earned nothing. Table 11 asks for every deposit or securities account abroad of which you are holder, beneficiary or authorized to move. The FAQ says this duty does not change the tax; you give the IBAN and BIC, or the account number if you cannot get them.
• Country of the source. The annex has a drop-down list of country codes.
• The tax office sees foreign data. Under automatic exchange of tax information, the authorities of many countries send income data on Portuguese residents to the tax authority.

If you benefit from the regime in article 58-A of the Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais, article 81(4) of the code applies the exemption method to some foreign income, with that income still counted to set the rate on your other income. The code text only gives the article number; linking it to the regime in the IFICI article is our reading. We did not read how that regime is entered in the return.

What does this mean for Americans?

Portugal taxes you as a resident on the income in Anexo J, and the U.S. may tax you as a citizen. The two returns are separate filings. Do Americans still file U.S. taxes from Portugal explains the U.S. side, and what the U.S.-Portugal tax treaty does covers the treaty. The foreign tax figure you enter in Anexo J is the tax effectively borne in the source country; ask a tax professional how the U.S. and Portuguese credits interact, as we did not read a page that shows it.

What does this mean for Britons?

UK income paid to a Portuguese resident goes in Anexo J like any other foreign income. What you still owe HMRC is covered in UK taxes and HMRC for Britons in Portugal.

How and when do you pay, or get a refund?

After you file, the tax authority assesses the return and works out the tax due or the refund, where withholding and payments on account exceed the tax. The assessment note shows the calculation. It is notified by post, or electronically if you have joined Via CTT or the electronic notifications on the portal.

The dates come from articles 77 and 97 of the code and the Modelo 3 page, as we read them on 21 October 2026:

• The assessment is made by 31 July when the return was filed in the normal window.
• The tax is due by 31 August, and a refund is paid by the same date.
• If no return was filed and the tax office assesses on its own, the assessment is made by 30 November and payment is due by 31 December.

Article 96 adds that when the return was filed on time and the amount due to you is favorable to you, compensatory interest (remuneração compensatória) is owed to you on the difference. We did not read the payment methods, so the page does not tell us how to pay.

What if you do not file or leave out foreign income?

The tax authority’s FAQ says that when no Anexo J, or no return at all, has been filed, it sends a notice of the obligation, using the income reported by other countries’ tax authorities. Settling at this stage can earn a significant reduction of the fine, or no fine, under article 29(1)(a) or (b) and (4) of the Regime Geral das Infrações Tributárias.

• Return filed without Anexo J: you are notified to exercise your right to be heard before an additional assessment. You can regularize by filing a substitute return that includes the foreign income. If you do not, the tax authority amends the declared income on the information it holds, including data from international exchange.
• No return at all: the tax authority sends a registered letter giving 30 days to file (article 76(3)). After that it assesses the tax.

We did not read the amount of any fine, so we state none.

What this guide does not cover

• Tax rates, brackets and deductions: we did not read the rate tables.
• How each type of income is taxed, such as pensions or freelance income.
• The U.S. and UK filings themselves.
• The Social Security annex and the annexes for Portuguese rental or business income.

Date of the information

The Portal das Finanças pages on the Modelo 3, deadlines, exemption, IRS Automático and foreign income carry no date of their own; the calendar page names 2026 only for the end of February deadline. The gov.pt guide for migrants shows “Atualizado em 05/05/2026”, the newest dated line among the pages we rely on, so our update date is 5 May 2026, although that line sits on the page we use for the NIF and password step, not on the tax rules. The latest amending law shown for articles 57 and 58 is Decree-Law 13/2025 of 6 March 2025, and for article 60, Law 12/2022 of 27 June 2022.

Official pages read for this guide, all on 21 October 2026: the Portal das Finanças pages on the Modelo 3, the main deadlines, exemption from filing, the IRS Automático and income obtained abroad; its FAQs on filling in the return, the Modelo 3 and annexes, separate and joint taxation and foreign income; articles 15, 57, 58, 59, 60, 76, 77, 81, 96 and 97 of the CIRS on the Portal das Finanças; and the gov.pt guide for migrants on taxes and social security.