Spain vs Portugal: the same money under two tax systems (2026)
Every figure on this page comes from the same engine and the same verified data that power the per-country calculators: one amount, each country's own rules. The defaults are deliberately plain — a single resident, no special regime — and each section names what it holds fixed and links to the full calculator where you can change every input. The gap between the two countries moves with the amount, so type your own number into any section.
A salary
The figures show take-home pay and, in brackets, the effective rate — the same amount under each country's own rules.
On €50,000, that is €3,092 more take-home pay in Spain.
| Amount | Spain | Portugal | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| €30,000 | €23,417 (21.9%) | €21,889 (27.0%) | €1,528 more in Spain |
| €50,000 | €36,156 (27.7%) | €33,064 (33.9%) | €3,092 more in Spain |
| €90,000 | €59,506 (33.9%) | €52,814 (41.3%) | €6,692 more in Spain |
The Spain column uses region — Madrid. The Portugal column uses how you are taxed — General IRS scale.
Change every input: Spain Income Tax Calculator · Portugal Income Tax Calculator
Freelance income
The figures show left after tax and contributions and, in brackets, the effective rate — the same amount under each country's own rules.
On €60,000, that is €3,799 more left after tax and contributions in Spain.
| Amount | Spain | Portugal | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| €40,000 | €21,141 (29.5%) | €18,390 (38.7%) | €2,751 more in Spain |
| €60,000 | €34,359 (31.3%) | €30,560 (38.9%) | €3,799 more in Spain |
| €100,000 | €57,654 (35.9%) | €52,233 (42.0%) | €5,421 more in Spain |
The Spain column uses deductible business expenses — €10,000; region — Madrid; how you are taxed — Autónomo — estimación directa simplificada. The Portugal column uses deductible business expenses — €10,000; what you do — Professional services (activities on the art. 151.º CIRS list); how you are taxed — Regime simplificado (category B).
Change every input: Spain Freelancer Tax Calculator · Portugal Freelancer Tax Calculator
Company profit
The figures show profit after corporate tax and, in brackets, the effective rate — the same amount under each country's own rules.
On €200,000, that is €2,000 more profit after corporate tax in Portugal.
| Amount | Spain | Portugal | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| €80,000 | €64,200 (19.8%) | €65,600 (18.0%) | €1,400 more in Portugal |
| €200,000 | €159,000 (20.5%) | €161,000 (19.5%) | €2,000 more in Portugal |
| €500,000 | €396,000 (20.8%) | €399,500 (20.1%) | €3,500 more in Portugal |
The Spain column uses turnover last year — €800,000. The Portugal column uses turnover last year — €800,000; municipality — Lisboa.
Change every input: Spain Corporate Tax Calculator · Portugal Corporate Tax Calculator
A dividend
The figures show dividend after tax and, in brackets, the effective rate — the same amount under each country's own rules.
On €50,000, that is €3,620 more dividend after tax in Spain.
| Amount | Spain | Portugal | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| €20,000 | €15,920 (20.4%) | €14,400 (28.0%) | €1,520 more in Spain |
| €50,000 | €39,620 (20.8%) | €36,000 (28.0%) | €3,620 more in Spain |
| €100,000 | €78,120 (21.9%) | €72,000 (28.0%) | €6,120 more in Spain |
The Portugal column uses how the dividend is taxed — Final withholding tax (taxa liberatória).
Change every input: Spain Dividend Tax Calculator · Portugal Dividend Tax Calculator
The founder chain: company profit → dividend → cash in hand
If you own the company, two taxes hit the same money in turn: corporate tax on the profit, then tax on the dividend you pay yourself out of what is left. This is the whole chain in both countries at once.
On €200,000, that is €7,630 more in your pocket in Spain.
The split below is the reference case at €200,000 of profit:
| Country | Corporate tax | Tax on the dividend | You keep | Total rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | €41,000 | €35,450 | €123,550 | 38.2% |
| Portugal | €36,000 | €45,080 | €115,920 | 42.0% |
One owner, resident in the country, taking the whole post-tax profit as a dividend. Spain: turnover last year — €800,000; dividend taxed under “Savings income scale”. Portugal: turnover last year — €800,000; municipality — Lisboa; dividend taxed under “Final withholding tax (taxa liberatória)”.
The corporate rate depends on the company's size and age, and the dividend route can be a choice — the per-country pages walk through the profiles: Spain founder tax · Portugal founder tax
Figures not yet fixed for this tax year
These amounts are applied in practice, but the text that fixes them for this tax year does not exist yet: either the statute has not been passed, or the body that sets the figure publishes it later than the year it applies to. We show them because leaving them out would give you a worse answer, not a safer one — and we show you exactly what each one rests on.
- Spain — regimes[0].reduced_contribution.amount_per_period (EUR 80/month, tarifa plana) — EUR 80/month was fixed by law only for 2023-2025 (DT 5ª RDL 13/2022); from 2026 the amount must be set by the annual Budget Law, which has not been passed (budget rollover). No norm of statutory rank sets the 2026 figure. Seguridad Social nevertheless applies EUR 80 de facto and publishes the 2026 tables with it. Publishing it is less wrong than omitting the reduced cuota altogether, which would overstate a new freelancer's first-year cost by roughly EUR 1,400. (what we relied on) · we re-check after 2026-12-31
- Spain — regimes[0].reduced_contribution.surcharge_per_period (EUR 8.64/month, MEI on top of the reduced cuota) — Derived from the total of EUR 88.64/month that Seguridad Social publishes for 2026 (88.64 - 80.00). It rests on the same unpassed Budget Law as the EUR 80 itself, and the MEI base used by the administration to reach 88.64 is not stated in any norm we could open. (what we relied on) · we re-check after 2026-12-31
- Portugal — surcharges[derrama_municipal].localities[].rate — These are the rates levied on the 2025 tax period, not 2026. A Portuguese municipal council sets its derrama municipal rate for a year during that year and reports it to the tax authority, which publishes the consolidated national table only in the February that follows: the 2025 table appeared on 2 February 2026, so the 2026 table is not due until around February 2027. No 2026 rate therefore exists for any municipality today. All eleven rates offered here (Lisboa 1.50%, Porto 1.50%, Cascais 1.00%, Oeiras 1.50%, Sintra 1.50%, Braga 1.50%, Coimbra 1.45%, Faro 1.20%, Matosinhos 1.50%, Vila Nova de Gaia 1.25%, Setúbal 1.50%) come from that one official 2025 list. A derrama deliberation stays in force until the council passes a new one (art. 18.º/1 of Lei n.º 73/2013), and most councils leave their rate unchanged for years, so last year's rate is the best available estimate for 2026 — but it is an estimate, not the 2026 rate: a council is free to raise or cut it, and you would not learn of the change until 2027. The alternative was to omit the surcharge, which would understate the tax of a company based in Lisboa by 1.5% of its taxable profit. (what we relied on) · we re-check after 2027-02-01
What this calculator does not model
Every rule below is real and is left out on purpose — modelling it would need information this form does not ask you for, or a mechanism we have not built yet. What matters is not that something is missing, but which way it moves your number, so that is what we tell you.
- Your real tax may be LOWER — Portugal: Tax credits for documented expenses — health, education, rent, and the general family expenses credit — are not modelled, and neither is the income-dependent cap on them. The tax shown is therefore an upper bound: it is what you would pay if you claimed nothing. This also means a small tax is shown at incomes just above the minimum-existence threshold, where the general family expenses credit would in practice cancel it. Applies to: Residents who file receipts — which is nearly everyone.
- Your real tax may be LOWER — Portugal: Married couples and civil partners may elect to be taxed jointly, which splits the income between two taxpayers and usually lowers the total tax when one partner earns much more than the other. We model a single taxpayer only. Applies to: Couples filing jointly, especially where incomes are unequal.
- Your real tax may be LOWER — Portugal: Madeira and the Azores apply their own, lower income tax rates. These figures are for mainland Portugal. Applies to: Residents of Madeira or the Azores.
- Your real tax may be LOWER — Portugal: The dependant credit is higher for a second and further child aged up to six, and the ascendant credit is higher when only one ascendant lives with you. We apply the base amounts only. Applies to: Families with more than one young child, or with a single ascendant in the household.
- Your real tax may be LOWER — Portugal: The specific deduction can be raised above the fixed amount for fees paid to a professional order, when membership is required for the job. We apply the standard amount. Applies to: Employees who must belong to a professional order — lawyers, doctors, engineers, architects.
- Your real tax may be LOWER — Portugal: In the first two years of activity the deemed-cost coefficients for services are cut (by half in the opening year, by a quarter in the next), and social security contributions are not due at all for the first twelve months. Neither relief is applied here. Applies to: Anyone who has just registered as self-employed — which is most people arriving in Portugal.
- Your real tax may be HIGHER — Portugal: Part of the deemed expense allowance has to be backed by real, documented expenses: if you cannot show them, the taxable base is increased. We do not model that add-back, so a freelancer with few real expenses is shown a lower tax than the law would charge. Applies to: Freelancers on the simplified regime with few documented expenses or contributions.
- May not apply to you — Portugal: Contributions are really assessed quarterly on the previous quarter's income, and you may adjust the assessed base up or down by up to 25%. We compute an annual figure from the income you enter, so your monthly bills will not match this line exactly even when the yearly total is close. Applies to: Everyone paying social security as a self-employed worker.
- Your real tax may be LOWER — Portugal: Tax credits for health, education, rent and general family expenses are not modelled (see the income tax calculator for the same limitation) — the tax shown is before them. Applies to: Residents who file receipts, which is nearly everyone.
- Your real tax may be LOWER — Portugal: Most councils charge no municipal surcharge at all on companies whose prior-year turnover was EUR 150,000 or less (Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia charge a reduced rate instead). The calculator applies the full municipal rate to everyone, so it shows a surcharge you may not owe. Applies to: Companies with prior-year turnover of EUR 150,000 or less — which is most founders in their first year.
- Your real tax may be LOWER — Portugal: The reduced 15% band is granted by a headcount test (fewer than 250 staff, or fewer than 500 for a small mid cap), not purely by turnover. We approximate it with the EUR 50,000,000 turnover limit, so a small mid cap above that turnover is denied the band here even though the law may grant it. Applies to: Companies above EUR 50,000,000 turnover with fewer than 500 staff.
- Your real tax may be HIGHER — Portugal: Autonomous taxation (tributacoes autonomas) is a real corporate charge, but it falls on certain expenses — company cars, entertainment, undocumented spending — rather than on profit, so it cannot be derived from the numbers this form asks for. Applies to: Companies that run cars or incur entertainment expenses.
- Your real tax may be HIGHER — Portugal: The reduced 15% band is granted here to every company at or below the turnover limit, but the law also demands a headcount test and a commercial, industrial or agricultural main activity. A company under the turnover limit that fails either test would not get the band. Applies to: Companies below the turnover limit with 500 or more staff, or whose main activity is not commercial, industrial or agricultural.
- May not apply to you — Portugal: Corporate tax is charged on the taxable base after carried-forward losses and tax benefits, while both surcharges are charged on taxable profit before them. This calculator uses one profit figure for all three, so the numbers diverge once you carry losses forward. Applies to: Companies carrying losses forward or claiming tax benefits.
- Your real tax may be HIGHER — Portugal: Aggregation (englobamento) is not a per-dividend choice: electing it drags every item of your investment income for the year — other dividends, bank interest, bond coupons — onto the scale as well, and those enter in full, while only company profits enter at 50%. This page compares the two routes for one dividend in isolation, so it understates what aggregation really costs you. Applies to: Anyone with investment income beyond this dividend who is considering aggregation.