Month 3
Time
30 min online (once you have portal access)
Cost
Free (DIY) · €50 to 150/mo with an accountant
Difficulty
Hard
EU vs non-EU
EU/EEA: EU/EEA citizens can open atividade with just NIF + NISS. No work authorisation needed. Do it before your first invoice, not after.
Non-EU: Your residence permit must allow independent activity (D8/D7 holders generally fine; check yours). Open atividade only once you're legally resident. Invoicing on a tourist stay is the classic expensive mistake.
What to bring
NIF and your Portal das Finanças password
NISS (social security number)
Portuguese IBAN
An activity code (CIRS table for most services)
Not needed: A company. Sole-trader "atividade" covers most freelancers and contractors
Your options
Contabilista certificado (accountant)
The sane route for anything beyond basics
€50 to 150/mo
Opens atividade for you, picks the right codes and regime, and files the quarterly declarations you'll otherwise miss. Pays for itself the first time a deadline doesn't.
Portal das Finanças (DIY)
Free, official, Portuguese-only
Free
The "Início de Atividade" online form. Doable if your situation is simple (one activity, simplified regime) and you can read bureaucratic Portuguese or sit with a translator tab open.
Staying invisible
Invoicing from your old country "for now"
Free until it isn't
Once you're tax-resident here (183 days), Portugal expects to see your income. Backdated social security and fines cost far more than doing it right.
Prices checked August 2026
Do it
- 1
Get your Finanças portal password
Request it on portaldasfinancas.gov.pt with your NIF, it arrives by post in about a week, and longer over the summer. Do this early; everything else waits on it. It goes to the address registered on your NIF, so fix that first if you have moved.
- 2
Pick your activity code and regime
Most freelancers use a CIRS table code and the simplified regime (default under €200k/yr). Estimate your first-year income honestly, it sets early VAT treatment.
- 3
Submit "Início de Atividade"
Online via the portal, or have your accountant do it. Same-day effect; you can issue your first recibo verde immediately after.
- 4
Learn the rhythm
Recibos verdes for every payment, VAT filings if you're over the exemption threshold (~€15k/yr), and quarterly Social Security declarations after your first-year exemption ends.
Words you'll hear
Atividade
Your registered freelance activity at Finanças. 'Abrir atividade' = becoming a legal freelancer.
Recibos verdes
The invoices freelancers issue through the Finanças portal. Slang for freelancing itself.
Contabilista certificado
A certified accountant. The €50 to 150/month subscription that keeps freelancers out of trouble.
Finançasfee-NAN-sash
The tax office. Where NIFs are issued, contracts registered, and queues perfected.
Common questions
I have one single freelance gig, do I really need this?
For a genuine one-off there's the "ato isolado", a single invoice without opening atividade. More than once, open it properly.
What does keeping atividade open cost?
Nothing by itself. The costs are social security after the first-year exemption ends, and whatever accountant you (wisely) hire.
Can I close it if I stop freelancing?
Yes. "cessação de atividade" on the portal, any time, reopenable later. Close it when idle; an open atividade keeps the quarterly declaration duty alive even at zero income.
Read more
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