The State Budget for 2026 (OE2026) arrives in Parliament with new IRS descents at the center of the debate. For taxpayers with income from the 2nd and 5th echelons, the theme is decisive again, in a year in which the government assumes in the budgetary diploma the realization of an additional reduction already provided for by law.
In the concrete, the legal commitment in force states that, “in the state budget to 2026”, the government proposes to reduce the marginal rates from the 2nd to the 5th level by 0.3 percentage points.
Based on the rates currently registered in article 68 of the IRS Code, after the July 2025 revision, the amounts go from 16.0% to 15.7% (2nd level), 21.5% to 21.2% (3rd), 24.4% to 24.1% (4th) and 31.4% to 31.1% (5th).
This additional reduction is anchored in Law No. 55-A/2025 of 22 July, which amended the IRS Code and links the Executive to realize this cut in OE2026, according to News to the Minute.
What is in force in 2025 (starting point)
In 2025, IRS legal marginal rates between the 2nd and 5th levels are, respectively, 16.0%, 21.5%, 24.4%and 31.4%, according to the official table inserted in article 68 of the IRS Code. These are the reference values from which the additional cut is calculated from 0.3 points to 2026.
The same law registered, in the own diploma published in Diário da República, the formalities of the case: was approved on July 16, 2025 by the Assembly of the Republic, promulgated on July 17 and entered into force on July 23, the day after the publication.
The legal base of the descent in 2026
Law No. 55-A/2025 not only updated the tables for 2025 but introduced a mandatory rule for OE2026: the additional reduction of marginal rates from 2nd to 5th level by 0.3 percentage points.
It is, therefore, a legal binding that the government must materialize in the budget proposal of 2026, naturally subject to parliamentary approval.
Calendar and Parliamentary Framework
The government must deliver the OE2026 by Friday, October 10, 2025, a period provided for in the budgetary framework, according to the same source.
The debate in general is scheduled for October 27 and 28 and the global final vote is scheduled for November 27. Prior to that, the proposal will be presented to the Budget and Finance Commission on October 24, by the Minister of State and Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento.
Additional notes relevant to taxpayers
In parallel to the rates, it remains, except to be approved in the OE2026, the additional solidarity rate applicable to the highest collectible income, currently 2.5% between 80,000 € and 250,000 € and 5% over € 250,000.
This surcharge, according to the, does not interfere with the cut of 0.3 percentage points in the 2nd to the 5th echelons, but adds when applicable. Any change to 2026 will have to be included in the final text of the approved budget.
In summary (IRS 2025 → 2026)
- 2025 (law in force): 2nd echelon – 16.0% | 3rd – 21.5% | 4th – 24.4% | 5º – 31.4%.
- 2026 (proposal mandated by law): 2nd echelon – 15.7% | 3rd – 21.2% | 4th – 24.1% | 5º – 31.1%.
The cutting of 0.3 percentage points between the 2nd and 5th echelon should be formally registered in OE2026 and, after parliamentary approval, applied to income earned by taxpayers over the next year.
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