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OverviewWhich anexo for which incomeThe four main anexos for expatsOther anexosChoosing your anexosCommon questionsOverview
The Modelo 3, Portugal's annual return, is modular. A cover form carries your identification and household, and everything else lives in lettered schedules called anexos, one per type of income or situation. You attach only the ones that apply, so the practical question every filer faces is simple: which letters are mine?
The letters map to income categories in the tax code. Employment is category A, self-employment is B, capital income is E, rental income is F, capital gains are G, pensions are H (the category, confusingly, shares a letter with the deductions annex described below). Foreign income of any category routes through a single dedicated annex, J.
Which anexo for which income
| Your situation | Anexo |
|---|---|
| Salary or pension from a Portuguese payer | A |
| Freelance or business income (simplified regime) | B |
| Freelance or business income (organized accounting) | C |
| Interest or dividends from a Portuguese bank or broker | E |
| Rent from a property in Portugal | F |
| Sold shares, crypto, or property | G |
| Deductions, benefits, or property-related tax data | H |
| Any income or account outside Portugal | J |
| NHR or IFICI regime holder | L |
The four main anexos for expats
Anexo J is the one most expats cannot avoid. Every foreign amount, salary from a foreign employer, dividends from a US broker, rent from a flat back home, a foreign pension, goes here regardless of its category, along with the disclosure of foreign bank and investment accounts. It is also where foreign withholding tax is entered so the double taxation credit can apply. The Anexo J guide covers it line by line.
Anexo L is short but decisive: it is where NHR and IFICI holders apply their regime to the income declared elsewhere in the return. Skip it and the portal taxes you at standard progressive rates even though your status is on file.
Anexo B carries self-employment income under the simplified regime, which is where nearly all expat freelancers on recibos verdes (the official freelance invoicing system) start. It wants your gross invoiced income by activity type, and the regime's coefficients do the rest. The simplified versus organized guide explains the choice.
Anexo H collects tax benefits and deductions that do not flow automatically: some health and education expenses incurred abroad, donations, and property data tied to exemptions. Most domestic deductions arrive pre-filled from e-Fatura, so H is often about the items the system cannot see.
Other anexos
- A: Portuguese employment and pensions, almost always pre-filled from employer reporting.
- C: business income under organized accounting, the accountant-run alternative to B.
- E: Portuguese-source interest and dividends, usually only filed when you opt to aggregate them instead of accepting the flat 28% withholding.
- F: Portuguese rental income and its deductible expenses.
- G: capital gains on shares, property, and other assets, with dates and cost basis per sale (G1 covers the exempt cases).
- I: undivided inheritance income, rare in practice.
Choosing your anexos
Build the return from your income list
Use this preparation sequence with the anexo table above. One household can need several schedules.
- List each sourceWho earned it, what it was and where it arose.
- Match the scheduleUse the category and source-country rules in the instructions.
- Check the fieldsGather the figures and identifiers requested by that schedule.
List your income sources
Every payment stream from 2025: employers, clients, brokers, tenants, pension funds. Note the country of each.
Split Portuguese from foreign
Portuguese-source items map to their category annex (A, B, E, F, G). Everything foreign collapses into J, whatever its category.
Add the status annexes
Regime holders add L. Deductions or benefits the portal cannot pre-fill add H.
Check against last year
The portal remembers your previous annex set. A missing letter compared with last year deserves a moment of thought before you submit.
Worked example
Dana freelances on recibos verdes under the simplified regime, holds a US brokerage account, and has IFICI status.
Each income stream maps to one letter and the letters stack on a single Modelo 3; a different mix of sources changes the set, not the method.
Common mistakes
- Foreign salary in Anexo A. A is for Portuguese payers only; a foreign salary belongs in Anexo J, in its employment block.
- Skipping Anexo L. Without it the portal taxes NHR and IFICI holders at standard progressive rates even though the status is on file.
- Filing empty placeholder annexes. You attach a letter only when there is something to declare in it; empty annexes are not filed.
- Dropping a letter you filed last year. The portal remembers your previous set, so a missing letter deserves a check before you submit; run the simulation and a misrouted annex usually shows up as a strange result.
Common questions
Does foreign employment income go in Anexo A?
No. Anexo A is for Portuguese payers only. A foreign salary belongs in Anexo J, in its employment block.
I had no income in a category. Do I file an empty annex?
No. You attach an annex only when there is something to declare in it. Empty annexes are not filed as placeholders.
One annex per person or per household?
It varies. Some annexes carry both spouses' income on one form, while Anexo B is filed per person. The portal builds the correct set once the household is on the cover form.
What if I file the wrong annex?
The simulation usually exposes the error as a strange result, and a replacement declaration fixes it after submission. Misrouted income is a common first-year mistake and rarely a drama if corrected promptly.
Sources
- Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira, Modelo 3 annexes and official instructions (current filing year)
- CIRS, income category definitions (articles 1 to 11)
- Portal das Finanças filing area and simulator
This guide is general information, not personalised tax advice. Rules and rates change, and your facts can move you off the defaults described here. Confirm your position with a qualified professional before acting on it.