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Portuguese Graduate Salary Premium Calculator

Portugal’s prémio salarial gives graduates back the equivalent of their tuition fees while they work in the country. Enter the degree, its length and the years.

The length is that of the course’s study cycle, not how long you took to finish it, and it counts rounded up to the next whole year. For an integrated master’s, enter the years of each block separately, because they are priced differently.

Total salary premium
€2,091
Instalments due
3 years
Length of the study cycle3 years
Years used up by the transitional regime0 years
First payment year2024
Last payment year2026
Last year you are still 352035
Claim on ePortugal by the end of May of2024

Schedule of instalments

  • 2024 (bachelor’s year)€697
  • 2025 (bachelor’s year)€697
  • 2026 (bachelor’s year)€697

The €2,091 is net. Article 3(4) of Decree-Law 134/2023 rules out income tax and social security contributions on these amounts, so the money lands whole.

Educational estimate from the figures you enter. It does not validate the academic degree, which is the higher-education directorate’s responsibility rather than the tax authority’s, nor check the conditions assessed year by year: having had category A or B income, being tax resident in Portugal, having filed the income tax return within the deadline and having a regularised tax position at the payment date. It also does not handle the rule that only the first degree of each level counts, nor the recognition of degrees obtained abroad. The schedule shown is the earliest possible one: a year in which a condition fails is not paid, and the instalment may be received later provided it stays within the age limit.

Informative estimate based on Decree-Law 134/2023 and Ministerial Order 67-A/2024. This is not tax or financial advice.

Video: how to use the calculator

How much it is, and why an integrated master’s is not a single sum

Article 3(1) of Decree-Law 134/2023 sets three annual amounts, not two: 697 EUR for a bachelor’s degree, 1500 EUR for a master’s and, for an integrated master’s, 697 EUR for the period matching the bachelor’s plus 1500 EUR for the period matching the master’s. That third limb is the one almost every summary drops, and it is the one that moves the most money: someone who finished a five-year integrated master’s split into three bachelor years and two master years is entitled to 3 × 697 EUR plus 2 × 1500 EUR, which is 5091 EUR. Doing the sum with a single price gives 3485 EUR or 7500 EUR, and neither is right. That is why the calculator asks separately for the length of each block when you pick an integrated master’s. The number of years of each cycle carries a rule of its own: article 4 of Ministerial Order 67-A/2024 requires it to be counted rounded up to the nearest whole number, so a master’s lasting a year and a half pays two instalments rather than one.

The transitional clock stopped in 2023, not in the current year

If the degree was awarded in 2023 or later, you receive one instalment per year of the course and there is nothing else to count. If it was awarded before 2023, you come in through the transitional regime of article 6 of the decree-law and article 7 of the order, and the condition is written with a fixed year: it qualifies only if the number of years elapsed between the year of the degree and the year 2023 is fewer than the number of years of the study cycle, and then only the remaining years are paid. Notice what that means in practice, because it is the source of the commonest mistake here: the count is not made against the year you are reading this, it is made against 2023 and it froze there. Someone who finished a four-year bachelor’s in 2022 had one year elapsed and kept three instalments, exactly as the Portuguese tax authority illustrates in its own published questions, and still has those three today. Anyone counting against the current year concludes they have lost the entitlement, and is wrong.

A bachelor’s and a master’s are two premiums, not a choice

Article 2(3)(a) says the relevant degree is the first academic degree obtained by the beneficiary, and that sentence is often read as though there were only ever one premium in a lifetime. That is not what the tax authority answers. Asked directly whether the premium can be received on finishing the bachelor’s and again on finishing the master’s, its published answer is yes, in respect of each academic degree obtained. What the law limits is repetition within the same level: someone holding two bachelor’s degrees or two master’s degrees is paid only for whichever came first. Each degree is claimed once, on the ePortugal portal, by the end of May of the year after the conditions are met, and after that there is no need to reapply every year: the tax authority checks the conditions annually and pays by 30 July.

What the calculator does, and what it leaves out

The calculator builds the schedule of instalments from the degree, the length of the cycle, the year the degree was awarded and your year of birth: it applies the price of each block, removes the instalments the transitional regime consumed, places the first one in the year after the degree (never before 2024, when the regime started paying) and cuts those falling after the year you turn 35. What it leaves out, because it is not arithmetic, is the part that decides whether you qualify at all: validating the academic degree, which is the job of the Directorate-General for Higher Education rather than the tax authority, and the conditions checked year by year, namely having had employment or self-employment income, being tax resident in Portugal, having filed the income tax return within the legal deadline and having a regularised tax position at the payment date. A year in which one of those fails is not paid, but the entitlement is not lost for good: article 3(3) allows the instalments to be received consecutively or with gaps, provided they never run past age 35. The schedule shown here is therefore the earliest possible one, not a promise.

Worked example

Suppose you finished a three-year bachelor’s degree in 2023 and were born in 2000. Because the degree is from 2023, no transitional regime applies and the cycle gives three instalments. The claim goes in on ePortugal by the end of May 2024 and the first instalment is paid that same year, followed by 2025 and 2026. That is 697 EUR in each of those years, so 2091 EUR in total, and it is 2091 EUR net, because the premium carries no income tax and no social security. In 2026 you are 26, well short of the ceiling, so nothing is lost to age. Had you instead finished a five-year integrated master’s, three years of bachelor’s and two of master’s, you would receive 697 EUR in the first three years and 1500 EUR in the last two, a total of 5091 EUR.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the graduate salary premium?
It is 697 EUR for each year of a bachelor’s degree and 1500 EUR for each year of a master’s, paid once a year for as many years as the study cycle of the degree you completed. A three-year bachelor’s is worth 2091 EUR spread over three years; a two-year master’s is worth 3000 EUR spread over two. In an integrated master’s, the years matching the bachelor’s are paid at 697 EUR and those matching the master’s at 1500 EUR.
I graduated before 2023. Do I still qualify?
It depends, and the sum is not made against today’s year. The transitional regime compares the years elapsed between the year of the degree and the year 2023 against the length of the study cycle: if the elapsed years are fewer than the years of the course, you are entitled to the remainder. A four-year bachelor’s finished in 2022 had one year elapsed and therefore gives three instalments. A two-year master’s finished in 2021 had two years elapsed, which is not fewer than the two years of the cycle, so it gives none.
Can I receive it for the bachelor’s and again for the master’s?
Yes. The Portuguese tax authority states expressly that the premium can be awarded in respect of each academic degree obtained, provided a claim is made for each of them. What you cannot do is repeat within the same level: someone with two bachelor’s degrees or two master’s degrees is paid only for whichever came first.
Is the premium taxable?
No. Article 3(4) of Decree-Law 134/2023 says expressly that these amounts carry no personal income tax and form no basis for social security contributions. The money lands whole, which makes it quite different from an equivalent rise in gross pay. Paragraph 5 adds that the premium is not set off against debts collected by the tax authority or by social security, although a regularised tax position is required at the payment date.
What happens when I turn 35?
The age ceiling applies to each instalment rather than to the entitlement as a whole. The order requires the beneficiary to be 35 or younger, inclusive, in the year of the award and in the year of payment, so the year you turn 35 is still paid and later years are not. In practice the schedule is trimmed at the end: someone with three instalments still to come but only two years left to the limit receives two and loses one. The calculator flags how many instalments are lost this way.
How and when do I claim?
The claim is made once for each degree, on an electronic form on the ePortugal portal, by the end of May of the year after the one in which you meet the conditions. After that there is no need to repeat it: the Directorate-General for Higher Education confirms the degree by 30 June, the tax authority checks the remaining conditions and pays by bank transfer by 30 July, to the account registered and confirmed on the tax portal. If the account details are not confirmed, the payment stays pending.
Are the calculator’s figures exact?
The amounts of 697 EUR and 1500 EUR, the duration tied to the study cycle, the rounding up, the age ceiling of 35 and the transitional rule are those of Decree-Law 134/2023 and Ministerial Order 67-A/2024. The result is an educational estimate from what you enter: it does not validate your academic degree, which is the higher-education directorate’s responsibility, nor check the annual conditions on income, residence and tax position. Always confirm the assessment on your personal page on the Portuguese tax portal.

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Author: Thorben Rasmus Idel · Reviewed by: Nahar Geva · Last reviewed: 2026-08-15