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Portuguese VAT Exemption Calculator

The article 53.º exemption of the Portuguese VAT code relieves small businesses from charging VAT. Enter what you invoiced last year and this year to see whether you are still exempt.

Turnover is everything you invoiced, net of VAT, in a calendar year (article 52.º-A of the Portuguese VAT code). It counts what you invoiced, not what you were paid. If you started trading this year, enter the estimate for the calendar year without converting it to a full-year equivalent: that conversion was repealed in 2025.

Are you VAT-exempt?
Yes, you are exempt
You can still invoice this year
€5,000.00
Turnover this year’s test is based on€12,000.00
Exemption threshold€15,000.00
Immediate-loss threshold (plus 25%)€18,750.00
Before losing the exemption on the spot€8,750.00
Of the threshold used up this year66.67%

With €10,000.00 invoiced, you are at 66.67% of the threshold. As long as last year stayed at €15,000.00 or below and this year does not pass €18,750.00, the exemption holds.

The article 53.º special exemption of the Portuguese VAT code, for taxable persons with their seat or domicile in Portugal. Not computed: the cross-border regime of paragraph 2 for businesses established in another Member State, with its €100,000 EU-wide turnover ceiling and its ‘EX’ identification number; the single taxable operation and intra-EU supplies of new means of transport, which paragraph 6 excludes; the conditions of paragraph 1 other than exports; and the VAT you would then charge, which is the VAT calculator.

Informative estimate based on the Portuguese VAT code. It is not tax or financial advice.

What counts towards the €15,000 threshold

Article 53.º of the Portuguese VAT code exempts anyone with their seat or domicile in Portugal who does not carry out exports or related activities and whose turnover in the previous calendar year did not exceed €15,000. Turnover is defined in article 52.º-A: the total annual value of goods supplied and services provided, net of VAT, in a calendar year. It counts what you invoiced, not what you were paid, and it runs by calendar year, from 1 January to 31 December, not over the last twelve months. The threshold has been €15,000 since 2025: it was €13,500 in 2023 and €14,500 in 2024 under the transitional schedule of Law 24-D/2022.

There are two limits, not one, and this is where almost everyone slips

Losing the exemption is not one event but two, and article 58.º separates them with different consequences. If your turnover in the previous calendar year passed €15,000, you stop being exempt from 1 January of the following year: you keep the exemption for the whole year in which you crossed. If in the current calendar year you exceed that threshold by more than 25%, meaning you pass €18,750, you lose the exemption immediately, from the moment you cross. That is why the answer to “I passed €15,000 in September, do I have to start charging VAT now?” is no, unless you also pass €18,750. The calculator always shows both margins for that reason.

What changed in 2025 (and what is still explained badly)

Decree-Law 35/2025 of 24 March rewrote this regime to transpose the EU small-business scheme. The previous wording required the taxable person not to have, or be required to have, organised accounting for income-tax purposes, not to carry out import, export or related operations, and not to trade in the goods and services listed in annex E. Only exports survived. The rule that converted a part year into a full-year equivalent also disappeared: a new business now states its estimate for the current calendar year, with no conversion and no need for the tax authority to confirm it. A great deal of published guidance, including on well-known sites, still describes the old conditions.

What the calculator does (and what it leaves out)

The calculator compares the turnover that forms the basis (last year’s if you were already trading, the estimate for the current year if you started this year) against the €15,000 threshold, and compares what you have invoiced this year against €18,750. It returns the answer, the two margins you still have and, once the exemption has ended, from when VAT is due and the 15-working-day deadline for the change declaration. Out of scope: the cross-border regime of paragraph 2 for businesses established in another Member State, with its €100,000 EU-wide turnover ceiling; the single taxable operation and intra-EU supplies of new means of transport, which paragraph 6 excludes; and VAT itself, which is the VAT calculator.

Worked example

Take a freelancer who invoiced €12,000 last year and is already at €10,000 this year. Because €12,000 is below €15,000, they are exempt, and they will stay exempt next year if this year closes below the threshold: they can still invoice €5,000 for that. They have used up 66.67% of the threshold. Passing €15,000 changes nothing immediately; the exemption would simply end on the following 1 January. To lose it straight away they would have to reach €18,750, and they still have €8,750 of room. If they reached €19,000 in November, VAT would be due from that moment and they would have 15 working days to file the change declaration.

Frequently asked questions

What is the VAT exemption threshold in Portugal?
€15,000 of turnover in the previous calendar year, the threshold in article 53.º(1) of the Portuguese VAT code. It has been €15,000 since 2025: under the transitional schedule of Law 24-D/2022 it was €13,500 in 2023 and €14,500 in 2024. Invoicing exactly €15,000 still qualifies, because the law refers to turnover “above” that figure.
I passed €15,000 mid-year. Do I have to start charging VAT now?
No, as long as you do not go past €18,750. Article 58.º(2)(a) makes the tax due only from 1 January of the year following the one in which you crossed the threshold. Paragraph (b) is the one that deals with immediate loss, and it applies only where the threshold is exceeded by more than 25% during the current year. Until then you keep the exemption and carry on invoicing without VAT.
Do I still need to avoid organised accounting?
Not any more. The previous wording of article 53.º ruled out anyone who had, or was required to have, organised accounting for income-tax purposes, but Decree-Law 35/2025 of 24 March removed that condition, along with the one about import operations and the one excluding annex E activities. Today the conditions in paragraph 1 are three: a seat or domicile in Portugal, no exports or related activities, and not having passed the threshold in the previous calendar year.
I started trading mid-year. How is my turnover counted?
By the estimate you make for the current calendar year, under article 53.º(5). The old rule, which converted the period since you started into an equivalent annual figure, was repealed in 2025, and the estimate no longer depends on prior confirmation by the tax authority. Someone starting in October who expects to invoice €5,000 by year end states €5,000, not the €20,000 that annualising would have produced.
What do I have to do when the exemption ends?
File the change declaration under article 32.º, within the 15 working days set by article 58.º(5). The deadline runs from the last day of the year in which you passed the threshold in the ordinary case, or from the moment you passed €18,750 in the case of immediate loss. From then on you charge VAT on your invoices and file periodic returns, and in exchange you gain the right to deduct the VAT on your purchases, which article 53.º(3) denied you while exempt.
Can I go back to the exemption if my turnover falls again?
Yes. The exemption depends on the previous calendar year’s turnover, so if you fall back below the threshold you meet the conditions of article 53.º(1) again. The switch is made by a change declaration within the period set in article 54.º, and it is not automatic: you have to request it. It is worth doing the arithmetic first, because returning to the exemption costs you the right to deduct VAT on purchases.
Is the article 53.º exemption the same as being a freelancer?
No. Being self-employed is an income-tax and Social Security status; the article 53.º exemption is a VAT rule that depends only on turnover and on that article’s conditions. You can perfectly well be self-employed and charge VAT, and the reverse happens too. The income tax and contributions on the same activity are worked out in the self-employment and self-employed Social Security calculators.
Are the figures exact?
The €15,000 threshold, the 25% margin and the 15-working-day deadline come from articles 53.º and 58.º of the Portuguese VAT code, as amended by Decree-Law 35/2025. The result is an educational estimate based on the figures you enter; it does not check the regime’s other conditions or your actual filing position. It does not replace the help of a certified accountant.

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Author: Thorben Rasmus Idel · Reviewed by: Nahar Geva · Last reviewed: 2026-08-13