Chapter III · Determination of the taxable amount · Section II · Resident legal persons and other entities whose main activity is commercial, industrial or agricultural · Subsection I · General rules

Article 17 Determination of taxable profit

Artigo 17.º · Determinação do lucro tributável

Código do Imposto sobre o Rendimento das Pessoas Coletivas · republished by Law No. 2/2014 · consolidated text checked 26 October 2026

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1. The taxable profit of the legal persons and other entities referred to in Article 3(1)(a) consists of the algebraic sum of the net profit or loss for the period and the positive and negative changes in equity occurring in that period and not reflected in that net profit or loss, determined on the basis of the accounts and, where applicable, adjusted in accordance with this Code.

1 - O lucro tributável das pessoas coletivas e outras entidades mencionadas na alínea a) do n.º 1 do artigo 3.º é constituído pela soma algébrica do resultado líquido do período e das variações patrimoniais positivas e negativas verificadas no mesmo período e não refletidas naquele resultado, determinados com base na contabilidade e eventualmente corrigidos nos termos deste Código.

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2. For the purposes of the preceding paragraph, the net surpluses of cooperatives are treated as the net profit or loss for the period.

2 - Para efeitos do disposto no número anterior, os excedentes líquidos das cooperativas consideram-se como resultado líquido do período.

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3. In order to permit the calculation referred to in paragraph 1, the accounts must:

3 - De modo a permitir o apuramento referido no n.º 1, a contabilidade deve:

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a) Be kept in accordance with the accounting standards (SNC) and other legal provisions in force for the relevant sector of activity, without prejudice to compliance with the provisions of this Code;

a) Estar organizada de acordo com a normalização contabilística e outras disposições legais em vigor para o respetivo setor de atividade, sem prejuízo da observância das disposições previstas neste Código;

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b) Reflect all transactions carried out by the taxpayer and be kept in such a way that the results of the transactions and changes in equity subject to the general IRC regime can be clearly distinguished from those of the others;

b) Refletir todas as operações realizadas pelo sujeito passivo e ser organizada de modo que os resultados das operações e variações patrimoniais sujeitas ao regime geral do IRC possam claramente distinguir-se dos das restantes.

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c) Be kept using computerised means.

c) Estar organizada com recurso a meios informáticos.

What we checked in this article

The algebraic-sum formula (net profit or loss plus changes in equity not reflected in it, adjusted under the Code), the treatment of cooperatives' net surpluses and the three accounting requirements in points (a) to (c) of paragraph 3 are retained.

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Unofficial English translation prepared by BCA Portugal for reference. Only the Portuguese text published in the Diário da República has legal force. Editorial notes are ours and are not part of the statute.

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