IRS Jovem is a tax benefit that allows people under 36 to reduce or even eliminate income tax for a period of ten years. According to the website specializing in financial matters, Economy and Finance, the program can be applied immediately to withholding tax, providing young workers with monthly salary relief.
How to apply IRS Jovem at source
For IRS Jovem to be reflected directly in remuneration, taxpayers must send an email to their employer. This must indicate the intention to apply article 99.º-F of the IRS Code and detail the year in which you began your professional activity, as well as the years in which you earned category A and B income, regardless of whether you submitted the IRS declaration in those periods.
According to the same source, the years in which the worker was still listed as a dependent in the household are not counted, and only the years with their own income are considered, up to a limit of ten years.
The request can be made at any time of the year and, according to the same source, companies have an obligation to accommodate this type of request. The effect is immediate: the monthly IRS withholding is adjusted, reducing salary deductions.
Who can benefit and what are the limits
The Young IRS continues in 2026 with the same exemption limits established in 2025. In the first year of income there is a total exemption. Between the second and fourth years, the tax is reduced by 75 percent, before falling to 50 percent between the fifth and seventh years, and 25 percent in the last three years of the program.
The exemption applies up to the value of 55 times the Social Support Index, which this year corresponds to 29,542.15 euros. Income exceeding this amount is taxed at normal IRS rates.
All young people under the age of 36 who have income earned in Portugal, whether employed (category A) or self-employed (category B), can access the IRS Jovem, as long as they have not taken advantage of tax benefits such as the non-habitual resident regime or the incentive for scientific research and innovation. It is necessary to have your tax situation regularized and not have participated in the Regressar program.
Annual or monthly order: strategic choice
The benefit can be requested in two ways. It can be applied immediately to withholding tax, resulting in a higher monthly salary, or through the annual IRS declaration, in Model 3, between April and June, reflected in the refund.
According to the same source, choosing the first option means that the eventual IRS refund may be smaller, but it offers immediate liquidity. In the case of income from self-employment, the application requires the completion of table 3E of Annex B of Model 3.
The flexibility of IRS Jovem allows each worker to decide how they prefer to benefit from the incentive, making the measure particularly relevant in a context in which the tax burden on young people continues to be a subject of attention.
According to , understanding the eligibility criteria and correctly communicating it to the employer is crucial to taking full advantage of this tax reduction.
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