Crypto on IRS 2026: how investors and founders in Portugal declare it.

If you hold crypto in Portugal and no one ever taught you the tax side, this is the article. Written for individual investors and for founders who pile crypto on top of an existing business. Same three questions every time: which Anexo, which rate, what changed.

The Portuguese framework for crypto sits inside the IRS Code, untouched at the legislative level since the post-2023 reform (Decreto-Lei 24-D/2022). What moved in 2025 and 2026 is the tax authority's interpretation: two Binding Information rulings cleared up where staking lives (Category E) and when crypto activity is professional (Category B). Plus from January 2026 your exchange feeds your transactions directly into the AT.

Which crypto profile are you in 2026?

Most people who hold crypto in Portugal fit into one of six profiles. Find yours, check whether something changed this year, then file accordingly. Burgundy badge means something changed; outlined badge means same rule as last year.

The filing map: which Anexo for which scenario.

Crypto income in Portugal is reported in Modelo 3 IRS, on different annexes depending on how the crypto was used. The table below covers the cases I see most often.

The 365-day rule, briefly.

Hold the same crypto-asset for at least 365 uninterrupted days and the gain is excluded from IRS on disposal (Article 10, n.º 19 of the CIRS). Crypto-for-crypto swaps are not a taxable event in themselves: tax only fires on conversion to euros (or to fiat-equivalent purchases). But each swap restarts the 365-day clock, with one narrow exception for a stablecoin conversion done immediately before a fiat sale. I unpack the rule, the exception, and the worked examples in the dedicated article on crypto swaps and the 365-day clock.

Staking: Category E if paid in fiat, Category G if paid in crypto.

One of the two real news items for 2026. The Portuguese tax authority's Binding Information 28122 (May 2025) settled the broad classification of staking, lending, liquidity provision, and DeFi yield as Article 5 CIRS capital income (rendimentos de capitais). What it did not change is the form-of-payment split that the law itself imposes.

Airdrops received passively in crypto follow the same Article 5(11) logic: no tax on receipt, taxed as a capital gain on disposal, with the 365-day rule available. When the airdrop is the consideration for prior work, promotion, or interaction (the "earned" airdrops), the AT can reclassify it as Category A or B income, taxed at progressive rates on receipt.

The practical consequence for crypto-paid yield: there is no annual tax bill on accruing rewards. The cost is the loss of acquisition basis (€0 instead of market value at receipt), which means the full sale proceeds become the gain when you eventually sell. The 365-day rule is the relief valve. The right strategy is usually to leave the rewards untouched for at least a year before any conversion to euros.

Professional crypto activity is Category B (and this catches more founders than they expect).

The second real news item. PIV 28122 also confirmed that recurring, organised crypto activity falls under Category B (rendimentos empresariais e profissionais), not Category G. That means progressive IRS rates up to 48% (or 53% with solidarity surcharges) plus social-security contributions, with the option of the simplified regime or organised accounting.

The line between investor (Category G) and professional (Category B) is judged on the facts. The factors the AT weighs are: frequency of operations, level of organisation, dedicated infrastructure (bots, multiple exchange accounts, dedicated capital), economic dependence (whether crypto is a meaningful share of your overall income), and intention to derive ongoing earnings rather than capital appreciation. Mining always crosses the line. A founder who pays vendors in stablecoins, holds business reserves in crypto, or accepts crypto from customers is at high risk of being on the Category B side.

Futures, derivatives and edge cases.

A casual investor's gain on crypto futures or options remains Category G capital gains. A frequent trader using futures as a recurring strategy is on the Category B side. The same frequency-and-organisation test applies. Wrapped tokens, LSTs (liquid staking tokens), and rebasing tokens have not received specific binding guidance yet. The conservative position is to treat the wrapping as a swap (clock-resetting) and the rebases as Category E receipts.

What the AT can see now.

From 1 January 2026, exchanges authorised under MiCA started collecting transaction data on every EU-resident customer for automatic reporting to the local tax authority. The Portuguese AT receives, from each exchange, the annual file of your acquisitions, disposals, transfers in and out, and gross proceeds. The first reports cover 2026 and are filed by 30 September 2027.

Translation: the gap between what you declare and what the AT already knows is shrinking fast. The 2025 IRS that you are filing now is the last filing window where omissions are easy to hide. The 2026 IRS will be reconciled against the exchange feed.

A practical checklist for your 2026 IRS.

• Pull a complete transaction history from every exchange and wallet you used in 2025, including the ones you stopped using.
• For each disposal, identify the holding period and decide whether it is Anexo G (under 365 days) or Anexo G1 (365 days or more, reported but excluded).
• Identify staking, lending, or yield rewards received during the year, and split them by form of payment. Fiat-paid rewards go on Anexo E at 28%. Crypto-paid rewards are deferred under Article 5(11) CIRS: no tax on receipt, but every disposal of those tokens then goes on Anexo G or G1 with a €0 cost basis.
• If your activity was frequent, organised, and a meaningful share of your income, assess whether you fall under Anexo B (Category B) instead. Mining always does.
• Foreign-platform transactions go on Anexo J, with the same category rules applied.
• Keep supporting documentation for every position: acquisition date, acquisition cost in euros, disposal date, disposal value. The AT can request it.

Filing window for the 2025 tax year runs from 1 April to 30 June 2026.

The 2026 regime rewards careful filing and punishes guesswork. The two clarifications (staking is Category E, professional activity is Category B) close two of the biggest grey areas. The automatic exchange feed closes the visibility gap. If your situation has any of the moving pieces in this article, the right move is to map your year before you file, not after.