How to calculate autonomous taxation

What is it for?

Autonomous taxation (tributações autónomas) is a separate tax on certain company expenses (article 88 of the Corporate Income Tax Code (CIRC)). fiscaldoo calculates it in two ways: in Form 22 (Modelo 22), from the expenses tagged with a category (entertainment, vehicle charges, per diem allowances, among others), with the rate the product has in force for each one; and, for per diem allowances only, in a wizard that shows the base per employee (what was paid and was neither taxed on the employee nor invoiced to customers) and exports it to Excel.

Pending validation by a certified accountant: the rates (8%, 25% and 32% for vehicles depending on the acquisition cost, 10% for entertainment, 5% for per diem allowances), the 10-point surcharge in case of a tax loss and its exceptions (article 88(3), (7), (9), (14) and (15) of the CIRC), as the screen applies them.

When to use it?

• When recording entertainment expenses or vehicle charges: that is where you set the category.
• When preparing Form 22: the Autonomous taxation tab shows what the company will pay per category.
• To know the per diem allowance base for a period, per employee, and hand it to the accountant in Excel.
• To check the per diem allowances on payslips against what Form 22 calculates.
• It is not for calculating IRC or the municipal surcharge (derrama) (that is Form 22) and it does not correct per diem allowances on payslips (that is done on the payslip).

Where to find it?

• Form 22: Accounting › Declare › Corporate income tax › Form 22 (corporate income tax), button Calculate autonomous taxation and tab Autonomous taxation. Profile Accountant.
• Per diem allowances wizard: Accounting › Declare › Corporate income tax › What is there to do with the corporate income tax?, button Autonomous taxation of the allowances. Profile Accountant.
• Default category of an account: Accounting › Configure › General › Chart of accounts, field Autonomous taxation (default). Profile Certified Accountant: the Accountant and the Fiscal officer do not have the Chart of accounts in this menu.
• Vehicle: Fleet app, Tax Info tab, Autonomous taxation (IRC) area. You need a user with access to Fleet: in the demonstration, no profile has it and the administrator was used.

Before you start

• Profile used in the example: Accountant, except for the account (Certified Accountant) and the vehicle (whoever has Fleet). The Auditor does not do this work: their menu has no Declare, and the Form 22 record does not show them the Calculate autonomous taxation button.

• How expenses are included. Form 22 only adds up the posted journal entries of the period that have an autonomous taxation category:

  Where the category comes from	What happens
  Payslip with per diem allowances	Automatic: the payslip's journal entry tags only the exempt part of each line. What was already taxed in IRS or invoiced to customers has no category
  Account with Autonomous taxation (default)	Automatic on each new line on that account. Changing the account's category does not change existing journal entries
  Supplier invoice line with a Vehicle	Automatic: category and cost come from the vehicle, if the account is an expense account
  Line typed by hand	Choose the category in the Autonomous taxation column and, for vehicles, type the Vehicle acquisition cost

• The categories are: Undocumented expenses; Vehicle charges (light passenger vehicles, light goods vehicles, motorcycles); Vehicle charges: plug-in hybrid or natural gas vehicles; Vehicle charges: electric vehicles; Entertainment expenses; Payments to residents in tax havens; Per diem allowances and own-vehicle compensation; Compensation and variable pay of managers and directors; Profits distributed to taxpayers with a total or partial exemption.

• Product rates in 2026, without surcharge: undocumented 50%; vehicle charges 8% below €37,500.00, 25% up to €45,000.00 and 32% above that; plug-in hybrid or natural gas 2.5%, 7.5% and 15% in the same brackets (these also in 2025); electric 0% up to €62,500.00 of acquisition cost and 10% above that amount; tax havens 35%; compensation and pay of managers 35%; distributed profits 23%.

• Example (made up): Empresa Demonstração, Lda, October 2026.

  • October payslip of an employee with 5 days of per diem allowances at €80.00 per day: 3 days with an approved trip map (Porto–Lisbon) and 2 days of another trip invoiced to a customer. The exempt daily limit is €65.89.
  • A dinner with customers of €2,000.00.
  • Fuel for vehicle AA-00-AA, with an acquisition cost of €30,000.00 (€1,000.00 plus VAT at 23%) and repair of vehicle BB-00-BB, with a cost of €50,000.00 (€800.00).

• The 2026 fiscal year has a tax loss, so the example applies the surcharge.

How to use it

1. Tag the account (once, Certified Accountant). Open account 6266 Entertainment expenses in the Chart of accounts and choose Entertainment expenses in Autonomous taxation (default). The field only appears on expense accounts.

2. Prepare the vehicle (once, whoever has Fleet). Open the vehicle and, in Tax Info, fill in Acquisition cost (autonomous taxation). Autonomous taxation (kind of vehicle) is suggested from the fuel: confirm it. In the demonstration, a new vehicle came with the type electric vehicles. Scales in force shows the rates and an arrow on this vehicle's bracket. This cost is not Fleet's Catalog Value.

3. Record the expenses (Accountant).

   • Fuel: in Supplier invoices, choose the Vehicle on the line. On invoices, the Vehicle, Autonomous taxation and Vehicle acquisition cost columns are hidden: turn them on in the columns menu, on the right of the header. The line on account 6242 also asks for the Expense category (in the example, Fuel: diesel), which sets the deductible VAT.
   • Repair: in Journal entries, account 6226 has no category: choose it in the Autonomous taxation column and type the vehicle cost. On the other line, the Account field does not offer 121 or the cash accounts (“No records”) and 2211 asks for the Partner: in the example, the counterpart is 2781 Other debtors and creditors.
   • Dinner: on account 6266, the Autonomous taxation column fills itself in.

4. Check the per diem allowances. Open the wizard, fill in From 01/10/2026 and Up to 31/10/2026 and click Calculate. Only payslips that are validated or paid and whose end falls in the period count. Result: Base of the autonomous taxation 197.67, Rate (%) 5.00 and Autonomous taxation 9.88.

   • The base is €400.00 paid, minus €70.55 that the payslip taxed in IRS (the excess above €65.89 per day) and minus €131.78 for two days invoiced to a customer: 3 × 65.89 = €197.67.

5. Tick The company has a tax loss in the period and click Calculate: the rate goes up to 15.00 and the autonomous taxation to 29.65.

6. Click Export to XLSX: it downloads “IRC autonomous taxation 2026-10-01-2026-10-31.xlsx”, with one line per employee: Worker, Paid 400, Taxed in IRS 70.55, Billed to customers 131.78, Basis 197.67, Rate (%) 15 and Tax 29.65. The file only has values, no formulas. Close the window.

7. Calculate in Form 22. Open the 2026 one (or click New and choose the Fiscal Year) and click Calculate autonomous taxation. In the Autonomous taxation tab, the screen first says why the surcharge applies: “Tax loss in the period: the rates are increased by 10 percentage points (CIRC art. 88.º, n.º 14).” Then there is one line per category and, for vehicles, per acquisition cost:

   Category	Vehicle cost	Lines	Expenses	Rate	Surcharge	Tax
   Vehicle charges	€30,000.00	4	€1,115.00	8.00%	10.00 p.p.	€200.70
   Vehicle charges	€50,000.00	1	€800.00	32.00%	10.00 p.p.	€336.00
   Entertainment expenses		1	€2,000.00	10.00%	10.00 p.p.	€400.00
   Per diem allowances and own-vehicle compensation		1	€197.67	5.00%	10.00 p.p.	€29.65
   Total			€4,112.67			€966.35

   The tax on each line is the expense × (rate + surcharge): for example, €1,115.00 × 18% = €200.70. Each line also shows the Taxpayer and the Legal reference. The per diem allowances line (€29.65) is the same as in the wizard with a tax loss.

8. Check the Autonomous taxation total (€966.35), which also appears in the Form 22 list. If you record more expenses, click Calculate autonomous taxation again: the total does not update by itself.

Expected result

• In the wizard, the base, rate and tax of the per diem allowances, and an Excel file with the detail per employee.

• In Form 22, one line per category with the expenses, the rate and the surcharge, and the Autonomous taxation total.

• Calculate creates no journal entries: it only fills in the tab. The expenses stay in the original journal entries:

  Journal entry	Debit	Credit
  Payslip SAL/2026/00005 (per diem allowances only)	6251 Travel and accommodation €197.67 (with category), €70.55 and €131.78	231290 Remuneration being processed €400.00
  Invoice FTF/2026/00046	6242 Fuel €1,115.00 and 2432 VAT - Deductible €115.00	2211 General suppliers €1,230.00
  Manual journal entry, repair	6226 Maintenance and repair €800.00	2781 Other debtors and creditors €800.00
  Manual journal entry, dinner	6266 Entertainment expenses €2,000.00	2781 Other debtors and creditors €2,000.00

  The €1,115.00 on the invoice is the €1,000.00 plus the half of the VAT that is not deductible (€115.00): non-deductible VAT is part of the autonomous taxation base. In the ledger, account 6242 shows 4 lines, because the non-deductible part is split (hence Lines 4 in Form 22). Pending validation by a certified accountant: the inclusion of non-deductible VAT in the base.

Important notes

• The warning about expenses without a category only looks at two accounts. If there are movements without a category on accounts 6242 or 6266, the tab warns you (see “Common problems”). A repair on 6226 without a category gives no warning and is left out of the calculation: check the other vehicle charge accounts.

• The surcharge depends on facts about the company. The tab has the fields Commercial, industrial or agricultural activity (ticked by default), Exempt or without a main commercial activity, Start of activity, Taxable profit in one of the three previous periods and Declarative obligations of the two previous periods met. After changing them, calculate again. In the example, the total goes from €966.35 to €555.08 in each of these cases, with the screen's explanation:

  • Start of activity 01/01/2026: “Period of start of activity or one of the following ones: the aggravation does not apply (CIRC art. 88.º, n.º 15).”
  • Both the profit and the obligations fields ticked: “Taxable profit in one of the three previous periods and declarations met: the aggravation does not apply (transitional rule of the State Budget).”
  • Commercial activity unticked: “The aggravation only applies to facts related to a commercial, industrial or agricultural activity not exempt from IRC.”
  Pending validation by a certified accountant: the exceptions to the surcharge in article 88(14) and (15) of the CIRC, and the State Budget transitional rule.

• Only the exempt part of per diem allowances counts. The excess over the daily limit is already the employee's income (taxed in IRS) and the part invoiced to customers is left out. On payslips, a trip is only invoiced if the trip map is marked as “Invoiced to a customer” (payslips article). The remote working compensation is not included.

• The wizard only sees payslips. It does not see the other categories (entertainment, vehicles, undocumented, payments to tax havens, managers' pay). The wizard's result must match the per diem allowances line of Form 22 for the same period (in the example: €29.65), as long as the period and the surcharge are the same.

• The payslip's journal entry. A per diem allowance only enters Form 22 after the payslip is accounted (journal entry posted): in the example, the October payslip created journal entry SAL/2026/00005.

• Simplified regime. With the simplified Scheme, there is no surcharge. In the example, vehicles stay at 8% and 32% (€345.20). For entertainment and per diem allowances, the rate and the tax are 0.00 and the Warning column says “Not taxable under the simplified regime (CIRC art. 88.º, n.º 16).” The tab says “Simplified regime: the aggravation does not apply (CIRC art. 88.º, n.º 16).”

• Electric vehicles with a tax loss. Up to and including €62,500.00 of acquisition cost, the rate is 0% and there is no surcharge: €300.00 of expense with a cost of €40,000.00 and €200.00 with a cost of €62,500.00 gave €0.00 of tax, with the reference “CIRC art. 88.º, n.º 20: there is only taxation (10%) when the acquisition cost exceeds the limit…”. Above that amount, the 10% rate gets the surcharge: €500.00, with a cost of €70,000.00, at 10% plus 10 points, gave €100.00.

• Exempt or without a main commercial activity. When ticked, undocumented expenses go to 70% and tax havens to 55%, and vehicles get tax €0.00 with the warning “Not taxable for an exempt taxpayer or one without a main commercial activity (CIRC art. 88.º, n.º 3).”. Entertainment (10%), per diem allowances (5%), compensation and profits do not change, and the surcharge stays until you untick Commercial, industrial or agricultural activity. Pending validation by a certified accountant: the result with this field ticked.

• Warnings when opening Form 22. “The fiscal year is not closed…” and “There is no generated Annex A of the IES…” relate to the rest of the return and do not prevent this calculation.

Common problems

“The period ends before it starts. How to fix it: correct the dates.”

• Cause: in the wizard, the From date is after the Up to date.
• What to do: correct the dates and calculate again.

The wizard gives a base of €0.00

• Cause: there are no validated or paid payslips with per diem allowances whose end falls in the period, or the allowances are all within the daily limit and were invoiced to customers, or the trip map is not approved (in that case the allowance is the employee's income and the base is zero).
• What to do: check the per diem allowance lines on the payslip and the linked trip map.

“There are expenses on accounts typical of autonomous taxation without a category (6242 Fuel: €50.00 (1)): they are not in the calculation below. Classify the journal items (field “Autonomous taxation”) or set the default category on the account, then calculate again.”

• Cause: there are posted movements on those accounts without a category. The warning does not prevent the calculation, but the total is incomplete.
• What to do: if the journal entry can still be changed, tag the line. Setting the category on the account only applies to new lines. Then click Calculate autonomous taxation.

“The category “Vehicle charges (…)” depends on the acquisition cost of the vehicle: fill in the “Vehicle acquisition cost” on the journal item (account 6226 Maintenance and repair) so that the right rate can be chosen.”

• Cause: you chose a vehicle category and did not type the cost.
• What to do: fill in the Vehicle acquisition cost column on the line, or choose the Vehicle, on an invoice.

“No rate in force for this category in the period: not taxed. Load the rate before relying on the result.”

• Cause: the product has no rate for that category in that period. The line gets tax €0.00.
• What to do: do not file the total until the certified accountant confirms the tax on that line.

The invoice line asks for the “Expense category”

• Cause: VAT on accounts such as 6242 is limited by article 21 of the VAT Code (CIVA), and the deductible percentage depends on the category.
• What to do: choose the category in the Expense category column, before posting.