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- Tax, Live in Portugal
Crypto as a Business in Portugal: Category B Income from Trading, Mining and Validation
🧑💼 When Crypto Becomes Category B
By law, these are commercial activities (Article 4, n.º 1, subparagraph o) of the IRS Code):
- Issuing crypto-assets, including mining
- Validating transactions through consensus mechanisms (for example, running a proof-of-stake validator)
Trading can also be category B when it’s carried out as a business rather than as private investment — signs include high frequency, organisation, dedicated means, and trading as the main source of income.
If you carry out a category B activity, you must register it with the tax authority (declaration of start of activity).
📋 The Simplified Regime: 0.15 and 0.95
If your gross category B income didn’t exceed €200,000 in the previous year, the simplified regime applies by default:
- Crypto operations (such as trading): only 15% of the income is taxable (coefficient 0.15)
- Mining: 95% of the income is taxable (coefficient 0.95)
The taxable amount is added to your other income and taxed at progressive rates.
When is income obtained? When the crypto is disposed of for euros or for goods and services. If you receive crypto in exchange for crypto, there’s no tax at that point — the crypto received takes the acquisition value of the crypto given up.
Watch out: ceasing the activity or losing Portuguese tax residence is treated as a disposal of the crypto you hold.
📊 Organised Accounting
- Mandatory above the €200,000 threshold, and optional below it
- The taxable income is the real profit, calculated under corporate tax (IRC) rules
- Costs such as energy, hardware depreciation, hosting and fees are deductible
- A certified accountant is required
For miners with high energy costs, organised accounting can be much better than a 0.95 coefficient.
💳 Getting Paid in Crypto for Your Work
If you’re a freelancer and a client pays you in crypto (for example, in a stablecoin) for professional services, in our view that’s ordinary category B income from your profession — not a crypto operation (the tax authority hasn’t issued specific guidance on this point):
- Issue an invoice (fatura-recibo) in the usual way
- The income is valued at the market value of the crypto when received
- The usual coefficient for your activity applies (for example, 0.75 for listed professional activities)
If you later sell that crypto, any further gain or loss follows the crypto rules.
🧾 VAT and Social Security
- VAT: exchanging crypto for traditional currency is generally exempt, following EU case law; mining and validation rewards are generally outside the scope of VAT. Services you invoice still follow normal VAT rules
- Social Security: as with any self-employed activity, contributions may be due on your relevant income, unless an exemption applies (for example, in the first 12 months of activity)
⚖️ Category B vs Category G
- Category G (private investor): gains on crypto held 365 days or more are excluded; short-term gains taxed at 28%
- Category B (business): no 365-day exclusion; taxed at progressive rates on 15% or 95% of the income (or on real profit)
- For a high-volume, short-term trader, category B with a 0.15 coefficient can actually result in less tax than 28% — but you lose the long-term exclusion
The classification depends on the facts, not on your choice — and the tax authority can requalify your income.
📋 How to Declare
- Annex B (simplified regime), table 4A: field 419 for crypto operations and field 422 for mining
- Annex C if you have organised accounting
- Make sure the activity code in your start-of-activity declaration matches what you actually do
💡 Practical Tips
- Decide early whether you’re an investor or running a business — and keep your conduct consistent.
- Keep separate wallets for business and private holdings.
- Miners: compare the 0.95 coefficient with organised accounting.
- Leaving Portugal or closing the activity? Remember it’s treated as a disposal.
🚀 Final Considerations
Mining, validation and professional trading are business income in Portugal. The simplified regime’s coefficients can be favourable for traders, but category B loses the 365-day exclusion that makes Portugal attractive to long-term holders.
📢 Expert Advice: If your crypto activity is growing, get advice before the end of the year. Moving between categories — or choosing organised accounting — can change your tax bill significantly.
Running a crypto activity in Portugal? Step Inside Portugal’s tax team can register your activity and choose the right regime — find out more about our tax services here. ✨
This article is for general information only and doesn’t constitute tax or investment advice. It reflects the rules as of October 2026.
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