IRS Jovem can still be requested until this Wednesday

Young workers who submitted their 2024 income tax return without activating the IRS Jovem program will still be able to apply for this tax incentive until this Wednesday by submitting a replacement declaration on the Tax Portal.

The Tax Procedure and Process Code (CPPT) allows taxpayers to submit a replacement declaration “within 30 days of the end of the legal deadline” if they find an “error of fact or law” in the declaration already submitted.

This circumstance may occur if a young person realizes that the declaration submitted was incorrect, because they did not opt for the IRS Jovem program despite meeting the access criteria.

As the legal deadline for submitting IRS returns was June 30, the deadline for submitting the replacement return based on this reason ends this Wednesday.

When the replacement file is submitted within the legal deadline, which in this case would have to be between April 1st and June 30th, taxpayers do not have to pay any fine. However, the same may apply to those who do so now, at this stage immediately following.

The General Regime for Tax Offenses (RGIT) provides that the Tax and Customs Authority (AT) may waive a fine if an offense does not result in "actual damage to tax revenue" and if the "misconduct" is rectified. To achieve this, the individual must not have committed a tax offense or tax crime (in a final and binding case) in the previous five years, nor have been exempted from paying a fine or benefited from a reduction.

The IRS Jovem is a tax incentive that works through reduced taxation on income earned in the first years of young people's working life.

For citizens to benefit from these rules, they must request access to the tax regime from the AT when submitting their declaration.

An employee (with category A income) must select this option in boxes 4A and 4F of Annex A.

If the worker provides services under green receipts (as a self-employed worker, with category B income), he/she must complete box 3E of Annex B.

In addition to general legislation permitting the submission of a replacement declaration when there is an error in the original file, the IRS Code also safeguards the possibility of submitting a new replacement declaration for taxpayers covered by the Automatic IRS who did not confirm the declaration or submit an alternative within the deadline.

When a taxpayer fails to take any of these actions, the Tax Authority converts the provisional tax return into a final one and declares the IRS settlement complete. Subsequently, a replacement tax return can be filed within the following 30 days, "without any penalty."

This safeguard also applies to young people who did not confirm the automatic declaration and who, therefore, did not exercise the option for this special taxation regime.

The IRS Jovem rules were revised in the last State Budget, to cover workers up to the age of 35, but the new rules do not yet apply to the IRS declared in 2025 (2024 IRS), only to income earned from 2025 onwards.

The 2024 Young IRS covers young workers between the ages of 18 and 26 who are no longer part of their parents' household .

It is also necessary to have completed a course of study (secondary education, vocational secondary education, bachelor's degree, or master's degree). If a young person has a doctorate, they can join until they are 30 years old.

The tax benefit operates by excluding a portion of income from personal income tax (IRS). A portion is exempt from tax, with this percentage varying depending on the year the scheme is implemented.

In the first year, all income is exempt from taxation (the exemption is 100%). In the second year, the exemption is 75% (IRS applies to 25% of income). In the third and fourth years, the exemption is 50% (tax is levied on only half of the income). In the fifth year, the exemption is 25% (IRS applies to 75% of income). At the same time, a cap applies to the amount that is excluded, which varies from year to year.