The minimum bracket is not a choice: it follows from your situation and from the years since your first registration, counted continuously even if the registration was suspended (article 80(2) and (3) of the CPAS Regulation).

Note the date: in 2027 your minimum bracket becomes bracket 5, which takes the mandatory contribution to €296.28 a month, that is €148.14 more than you pay now. Because there is no intermediate bracket between 1 and 2 times the index, the increase is not gradual, it happens in one step.

The base is not the headline index. The 2026 contribution index is €670.91, but Portaria 28/2026/2 set a correction factor of minus 8 %, so the base that multiplies the brackets is €617.24. On the headline index this contribution would come to €161.02 a month, that is €12.88 more.

Left out, and explained on the page: the default interest on late payment, which article 81(4) charges at the rate applicable to tax debts owed to the State; the future CPAS pension, which depends on the whole contribution career; the declaration deadlines (30 days after registration and 30 November to change bracket); and income tax. 2026 values: index of 670.91 €, correction factor of minus 8 % and a rate of 24 %.

This is an educational estimate and does not constitute tax, legal or financial advice.