First filing

Use this for your first Portuguese Modelo 3. For the 2027 filing season, prepare your 2026 records. Tick an item when you have completed the check or established that it does not apply. Keep unresolved questions in your own notes.

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1. Establish the filing position

• Identify the income year. Label the folder “2026 income / 2027 filing” if that is the return you are preparing.
• Check whether a return is required. Consider resident or non-resident income and any applicable filing exemption; a NIF alone does not answer this. Who files?
• Establish residence dates. Reconcile overnight stays, habitual-home evidence and registered details. Do not assume your arrival or address-change date is decisive. Moving-year guide
• Check household and ownership details. Gather relevant NIFs and dependant information. For eligible couples, compare separate and joint taxation using complete figures.

2. Prepare access and deadlines

• Test Portal das Finanças access. Resolve access issues before the filing window. Keep passwords out of your document bundle.
• Review e-Fatura and household records. Check the relevant year’s AT preparation calendar; these actions can have deadlines before the return opens.
• Record the applicable filing deadline. Current law sets the ordinary window at 1 April to 30 June of the next year. Recheck the 2027 campaign instructions when available.
• Resolve cross-border timing. If qualifying foreign tax is not yet determined, check article 60’s extension and communication conditions before 30 June. Track other countries’ deadlines separately. Extension conditions

3. Gather the records that apply

• Employment and pensions: annual statements, gross amounts, withholding and compulsory contributions. For employment, document where the work was physically performed.
• Self-employment and rent: invoices or receipts, rental records, relevant expenses and the accounting regime. Separate business receipts from transfers between your own accounts.
• Investments and disposals: bank and broker reports, purchase and sale dates, costs and fees. Keep transaction history for shares, property or crypto that may require classification.
• Foreign income and tax: retain gross amounts, source country, recipient, tax evidence and original currency. Record the basis used to convert amounts into euros.
• Foreign accounts: gather identifiers for reportable deposit and securities accounts, including accounts without income and relevant signing authority. Anexo J guide
• Deductions and special regimes: retain supporting records and evidence of actual eligibility or registration. Do not assume a visa gives a tax-regime entitlement.

4. Review the draft return

• Map income to schedules. Resolve category, source and residence period first. A foreign employer or bank account does not automatically make salary foreign-source. Anexo starting points
• Reconcile the figures. Compare pre-filled and manually entered amounts with statements. Keep gross income, tax withheld and net cash distinct.
• Check the main form and elections. Review income year, household, residence periods, bank details and any joint-taxation or other choices.
• Validate and inspect any simulation. Resolve errors and unexplained results. A successful validation does not confirm the underlying tax classification.
• Resolve open questions. Keep a short list of disputed dates, uncertain income categories, treaty issues or missing certificates, and obtain a clear answer before filing.

5. Submit and follow through

• Submit the declaration. A draft or simulation is not submission. Confirm the portal shows that the return was submitted.
• Save proof. Keep the submission receipt, full declaration and supporting records together in your secure folder.
• Monitor processing. Check the return status and AT messages; act on any correction request using the stated procedure.
• Read the assessment. Compare the nota de liquidação with the return. Check the actual payment notice and due date or refund status.
• Close the file. Save payment proof or refund records, and note any unresolved adjustment or separate foreign-country filing obligation.

Need the reasoning behind a step? Read Your First Modelo 3. Ticking every box means you have worked through the checklist; it is not certification of a correct return.

General information, not personalised tax advice. Your facts and the rules for the relevant income year govern. Check uncertain classifications before filing.