Where to find your NISS: your Social Security number
The NISS isn't the NIF. Where your Social Security number lives - on the Citizen Card, in SS Direta or by phone - and how to request one if you don't have it.
News, tips and guides for independent workers
Everything you need to know about invoicing, VAT and Social Security in Portugal.
NISS for foreigners: how to get your number
New to Portugal and need a NISS? How a foreign citizen requests the Social Security number online - the documents, the steps, the cost and how long it takes.
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Unlock Segurança Social Direta and recover your password
Lost your Segurança Social Direta password or stuck on the security code? The ways back in on the spot - and the slow one, by post.
Anexo SS: the IRS annex freelancers forget
The Anexo SS links your IRS to Social Security and declares your contracting entities. It's what measures your economic dependence - which can require a client of yours to pay a contribution and counts towards the cessation-of-activity benefit. A clear guide.
Lost your clients? The cessation-of-activity benefit hardly anyone knows about
It's the 'unemployment benefit' for economically dependent freelancers: if your main client lets you go, you may be entitled to Social Security support. Who qualifies, how much, and how to claim.
Civil servant with a side activity: when you need authorisation
Are you a civil servant wanting to do some freelance work? As a rule you need authorisation to combine roles. Here's what tends to be authorised, what needs extra care, and what's outright forbidden.
Falsos recibos verdes: how to tell if you're one - and what's at stake
Work fixed hours, at the client's office, invoicing only them? You may be a falso recibo verde - a disguised employee. The presumption of employment (art. 12.º of the Labour Code), the signs, and what to do.
The freelancer's pension: what you'll get for what you pay in today
Tomorrow's pension reflects what you contribute over your career. Always paying the minimum is cheap now and costly at retirement. Here's how a freelancer's pension is built and how a PPR cuts your IRS.
Maternity and paternity on green receipts: the freelancer's parental benefit
Becoming a parent and on green receipts? You're entitled to Social Security's parental benefit. Here's the guarantee period, the choice between 120 and 150 days, and how much sharing the leave changes.
A pensioner on green receipts: combining a pension with freelance work
Retired and want to keep working for yourself? You can - your old-age pension stacks with green receipts and you're exempt from Social Security. But in IRS the two incomes add up. Here's what changes.
Sick leave as a freelancer: the sickness benefit hardly anyone knows about
If you fall ill and can't work, Social Security pays you a sickness benefit - but there's a 10-day waiting period and limits worth knowing beforehand. A guide with deadlines, amounts and duration.
Segurança Social Direta: a map so you don't get lost
The Segurança Social Direta portal is daunting at first. Here's the map of the areas a freelancer actually uses: the quarterly declaration, contributions, current account, contribution record and no-debt certificates.
A student on green receipts: Social Security, IRS and your parents' dependant status
Are you a student about to invoice your first jobs? You can issue green receipts - but it affects Social Security, your own IRS, and your dependant status on your parents' IRS. Here's what changes and what pays off.
I'm on unemployment benefit - can I open a freelance activity?
Yes - use the benefit to your advantage: bring it forward all at once as capital, or only part and keep the rest monthly. The IEFP measure ties you in for 3 years.
Work-accident insurance: the mandatory cover nobody told you about
If you're self-employed, Social Security does NOT cover your work accidents. You need your own insurance, mandatory by law (Law 98/2009). Here's who must have it, what it covers and the risk of going without.
Social Security for Freelancers: What You Pay and Why
In your first year you are fully exempt from Social Security - 12 months at zero. After that, you pay 21.4% on 70% of the previous quarter's services.
Social Security -25% Option: How It Works
In the quarterly declaration you can adjust the base by up to 25%. See the impact on BIC, contributions, sickness, parental leave and pension.