The State Budget for 2026 (OE2026) promises to bring news that will move the pocket of the Portuguese, especially through the increase in the national minimum wage and the reduction of IRS rates. The official document will only enter Parliament on 10 October, but some measures have already been anticipated by the Government and the Assembly of the Republic.
In recent days, some of the guiding lines of the next budget began to be known. These include the rise of minimum guaranteed remuneration and a new reduction in IRS, measures that are part of a wider plan to reinforce families’ income.
Minimum wage rises to 920 euros
One of the central points of OE2026 will be the update of the national minimum wage. The tripartite agreement of salary appreciation, signed in October 2024 between the government, the employer confederations and the General Union of workers, provides annual increases of 50 euros by 2028, the year the minimum wage should reach 1,020 euros, according to news to the minute.
Thus, by 2026, the guaranteed minimum remuneration should go from the current 870 euros to 920 euros. However, the government program sets a more ambitious goal: reaching 1,100 euros by 2029.
The Minister of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security recently stressed that the executive “does not open or close the door” to review this trajectory, leaving margin for any adjustments, if the economic situation allows it.
IRS with new reduction in 2026
Another of the measures already guaranteed is the additional reduction of IRS. After a first descent in 2025, approved by Parliament in July, it was established that the state budget to 2026 should bring more cuts in the rates applied between the 2nd and 5th echelon, according to the same source.
According to the approved diploma, these rates will go down 0.3 percentage points. In practice, the second level will go to 15.7%, the third to 21.2%, the fourth to 24.1%and the fifth to 31.1%. This measure was driven by a joint proposal from the PSD and CDS-PP, which eventually linked the government to introduce this change.
With this adjustment, the objective is to relieve the fiscal burden of intermediate income families, allowing taxpayers to feel a net reinforcement in salaries next year.
The OE2026 calendar
As provided by law, the government has until October 10 to deliver the budget proposal in Parliament. The Budget, Finance and Public Administration Commission (COFAP) has already presented a calendar for the appreciation of the document.
The discussion in general is expected to take place on October 27th and 28th, and the global final vote scheduled for November 27.
In the middle, between November 20 and 26, the votes will take place, article to article, from the proposals of alteration presented by the parties, states.
Thus, the next few weeks will be decisive to close the measures of the OE2026, which is expected to mark the country’s political and economic agenda in the last quarter of the year.
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