Portugal’s tax revenues up 11% to €17.4Bn to April

Portugal’s tax revenue increased by 11% up to April, to €17.4Bn, driven by VAT and IRS, according to budget execution data released today by the Directorate-General for the Budget (DGO).

“In April 2025, the Portuguese State’s sub sector accumulated tax revenues totalled €17.4Bn. This amount represented an increase of €1.7Bn (+11%) compared to the same period last year,” says the DGO.

This increase is explained by an increase is revenues of €548.5 million in direct taxes, mainly IRS, and a like-for-like increase of €1.8Bn from indirect taxes.

On the other hand, Portugal’s national insurance contributions for social security also increased to €2.3Bn to April.

The Social Security balance recorded a surplus of €2.3Bn up to April, an increase of 16% compared to the value observed in the same period of 2024, according to the summary of budget execution today.

Compared to the surplus of €2.0Bn posted at the end of April 2024, the balance now is equivalent to an additional €325 million, explained by an increase in revenue that was greater than expenditure.

According to a document from the Directorate-General for the Budget, effective expenditure stood at €11.776Bn in the first four months of the year, an increase of 8.2%.
And expenditure of pensions rose 6.3% like-for-like, totalling €6.5Bn. Unemployment benefits (the second most relevant after pensions) climbed 8.4% to €548.1 million.

On the revenues side, there was a 9% increase in contributions that reflected salary increases, totalling €9.2Bn to April.