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Company manager with or without a salary: 5 rules to decide and stay right with Social Security
Step Inside Accounting · Practical guide
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1. The management role can be paid or unpaid – but it must be in writing
The partners decide whether the management role is paid: in the articles of association or in the minutes of a general meeting. That decision has consequences:
- paid: the manager receives a salary, taxed for IRS as employment income, with tax withheld every month. For the company, the salary and contributions are deductible costs for IRC (corporate tax);
- unpaid: the manager receives no salary. If they need to take money out of the company, they can only do so in other ways, such as dividends, with their own rules and taxes.
If the management role becomes unpaid (or the other way round), the company must notify Social Security of the change on Segurança Social Direta within 10 days, with a copy of the minutes.
2. A paid manager always contributes
If the manager receives a salary, there are contributions to Portuguese Social Security every month:
- 23.75% paid by the company;
- 11% deducted from the manager;
- in total, 34.75%, a rate that includes unemployment protection, under certain conditions.
Contributions are charged on the salary paid, with a minimum: even if the salary is lower, the base is never below the IAS (€537.13 in 2026). The only way not to pay in Portugal is for the manager to be subject to another country’s social security – in the European Union, with the A1 form issued by that country.
3. Unpaid manager: exempt only with other social protection
An unpaid manager does not pay contributions as a manager if they already have mandatory social protection through another route:
- they are employed, or self-employed, in Portugal, with contributions on an amount equal to or above the IAS;
- they receive an old-age or invalidity pension;
- they are covered by another country’s social security, with a document proving it (in the EU, the A1 form).
If none of these applies, having no salary is not enough: the manager has to contribute, as we explain in the next rule.
4. No salary and no other protection: contributions on the IAS
An unpaid manager who is not covered by any other mandatory scheme, in Portugal or in another country, contributes on the value of the IAS, as if they received that salary:
- monthly base: €537.13 (2026 IAS);
- contribution: 34.75%, that is €186.65 a month.
The company declares and pays these contributions every month, even without running payroll. If it does not, the debt builds up, with interest, and shows up in a tax inspection or when the company needs a certificate of no debt.
5. Decide with all the numbers in view
Salary or no salary is not just a Social Security question:
- a salary pays IRS at the normal rates plus contributions, but it is a company cost and reduces IRC;
- dividends pay no Social Security, but they only come out after the company has paid IRC on its profit, and they are taxed at 28%;
- a salary gives you social protection: sickness, parental leave, unemployment under certain conditions and, later, a pension.
For those who live on what the company earns, a salary, even a moderate one, is usually the most balanced solution. For those who already have other social protection, an unpaid management role can make sense.
Example
Sofia is the sole partner and manager of a private limited company. See what she pays to Social Security in 2026, per month, in three scenarios:
- With a salary of €1,500: the company pays €356.25 (23.75%) and €165 (11%) is deducted from Sofia. In total, €521.25 per month of salary.
- No salary and no other social protection: contributions on the IAS, €186.65 a month (34.75% of €537.13), that is €2,239.80 a year.
- No salary, but employed by another company, with a salary above the IAS: she pays no contributions as a manager. The company notifies Social Security that the management role is unpaid, with the minutes.
If Sofia moved to Spain and worked there, becoming covered by Spanish social security, the Spanish A1 form would exempt her from contributions in Portugal.
Team tip
Before you decide that the management role is unpaid, check whether each manager has other social protection – and keep the proof (payslip, Social Security statement or A1 form). We take care of the minutes and the notification to Social Security, so no debt builds up without you knowing.
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This article is for information only and does not replace professional advice. Figures and rules are those in force at the date of publication and may change.
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