Glossary: Portuguese bureaucracy words, explained

The words you will hear at the Tax Office, Social Security, at work and when renting, each explained in one sentence.

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Documents and services

NIF: Tax identification number, needed for contracts, renting, banking and receipts.
NISS: Social Security number, needed to work and pay into your pension.
Número de utente: Your number in the National Health Service (SNS), for appointments and prescriptions.
AIMA: Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum: handles residence permits.
Autorização de residência: The document that lets you live legally in Portugal (also called título de residência).
Atestado de residência: A certificate from the Junta de Freguesia confirming where you live.
Junta de Freguesia: Your local parish council. It issues certificates and helps with small matters.
Finanças (AT): The Tax Authority: taxes, NIF, income tax.
Segurança Social: Collects contributions and pays pensions, sick pay and benefits.
Loja do Cidadão: A one-stop shop with several public services in one place.
Chave Móvel Digital: A way to log in to public websites (Tax, Social Security) with your phone.
CLAIM: Local Migrant Integration Support Centres: free help with documents, work and housing.

Work

Contrato a termo / sem termo: Fixed-term has an end date; permanent (sem termo) does not.
Período experimental: The first months of a contract, when either side can end it with fewer formalities.
Recibo de vencimento: Your monthly payslip, showing pay and deductions.
Salário bruto / líquido: Gross is before deductions; net is what you receive.
Salário mínimo: In 2026, for a 40-hour week: €920 on the mainland, €966 in the Azores and €980 in Madeira. Part-time it is proportional to your hours.
Subsídio de alimentação: Meal allowance per day worked. Up to €6.15 (cash) or €10.46 (card) a day is tax-free.
Subsídio de férias e de Natal: Two extra months' pay a year: one before your holidays, one at Christmas.
Duodécimos: Holiday and Christmas pay split into 12 parts and paid with your salary.
Horas extra: Work beyond your hours, paid extra. Up to 100 hours a year, on a working day: +25% for the 1st hour and +37.5% after that; more on rest days, holidays or above 100 hours.
TSU (Taxa Social Única): Social Security contributions: 11% comes out of your pay (shown on your payslip) and your employer pays another 23.75% on top.
Retenção na fonte: Income tax withheld from your pay every month and settled the next year.
IRS: Personal income tax. The yearly return is filed between 1 April and 30 June.
Recibos verdes: Self-employment: you issue invoice-receipts and pay your own contributions.
ACT: The labour inspectorate: where you complain about abuses at work.
Baixa médica: A sick note that entitles you to Social Security sick pay.

Housing

Contrato de arrendamento: Your rental contract. It should be in writing and registered with the Tax Office by the landlord.
Senhorio: Your landlord.
Caução: A deposit, returned at the end if there is no damage or debt.
Recibo de renda: Proof that you paid rent. Always ask for it.
Fiador: A guarantor who agrees to pay if you do not.

Health

Centro de saúde: Where you see your GP and have routine appointments.
Médico de família: The doctor assigned to you at your health centre, when places are available.
SNS 24: Health line 808 24 24 24: advice and referral before you go to A&E.
Urgência: Hospital emergency department for serious cases. In an emergency call 112.
Taxa moderadora: A fee that now applies only in a few cases, such as going to A&E without a referral.

Official sources

Reviewed on 31 October 2026. General information, not legal advice.