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IFICI (NHR 2.0), IRS 2026 and IRS Jovem – what newcomers to Portugal pay in tax and when to file

Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →

The old NHR regime is closed, the IFICI (NHR 2.0) has replaced it, and the 2026 budget rewrote the income tax brackets. Here is what a newcomer to Portugal actually pays, the 15 January deadline that decides your rate for ten years, and how to bring your belongings, your car and your pet through customs.

Woman with papers, laptop and calculator at a kitchen table
Photo: Home-stock/Adobe Stock

The non-habitual resident regime (NHR, residente não habitual) was repealed on 1 January 2024 by Lei 82/2023 and replaced by the IFICI (Incentivo Fiscal à Investigação Científica e Inovação), known as NHR 2.0 – an official guide for migrants still describes the old regime as open, but it is not. The State Budget for 2026, Lei 73-A/2025, then rewrote the IRS (personal income tax) brackets. All of it is national law, applied by the Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira (AT – the Tax and Customs Authority), known as Finanças (the tax office).

Are you a tax resident in Portugal?

You are resident for the year if you spend more than 183 days here, consecutive or not, in any 12-month period starting or ending in that year – any day with an overnight stay counts – or if you have a home here that shows you mean to live in it. Residents pay IRS on worldwide income, non-residents only on Portuguese-source income.

Report your Portuguese address to the AT within 60 days – EU citizens with the CRUE (certificado de registo de cidadão da União Europeia) from the câmara municipal (town hall), non-EU citizens with the residence permit or application receipt from AIMA (Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo – the immigration agency that replaced SEF) – online or by appointment at a Loja de Cidadão (citizen shop). While your NIF (número de identificação fiscal – tax number) is registered as non-resident you cannot apply for the IFICI.

IFICI (NHR 2.0): who gets the 20 per cent rate

The IFICI, article 58-A of the tax benefits statute (EBF), taxes net employment and self-employment income from an eligible activity at 20 per cent for 10 consecutive years from the year you register as resident. Most foreign income is exempt; income from blacklisted tax havens is taxed at 35 per cent.

You must have become tax resident from 2024 onwards, not have been resident in any of the previous five years, never have used the NHR or the Programa Regressar (the returning-residents regime), and work in a listed activity. The regime can be used once, and from 2025 it excludes IRS Jovem.

Eligible activityWhere
Higher-education teaching and scientific researchUniversities and the science and technology system
Highly qualified professions (CPP 112, 12, 13, 21, 221, 231 and 25, with exceptions): a doctorate, or a degree plus three years of experienceCompanies with RFAI incentives or exporting at least 50 per cent of turnover
Qualified jobs under contractual investment benefits; jobs relevant to the economyCompanies holding those benefits; companies recognised by AICEP or IAPMEI
Research and development staffUnder SIFIDE
Jobs and board seats in certified start-upsLei 21/2023

Source: the Tax and Customs Authority (EBF article 58-A and the IFICI leaflet), read 24 September 2026.

Your employer confirms the highly qualified requirements by 15 March. A remote job for a foreign employer is not in itself a listed activity; nor is a pension.

The 15 January deadline

Register on the Portal das Finanças (Cidadãos > Serviços > Benefícios Fiscais > Inscrição no IFICI) by 15 January of the year after you became resident. Register late and the regime starts only in that year, for the rest of the 10: resident in 2025 but registering in January 2029 means 2029 to 2034. With proof of the request your employer withholds 20 per cent, and you file Anexo L with your Modelo 3 return.

IRS 2026 brackets – and what a salary earner deducts

For income earned in 2026 the general rates, per taxpayer after couples split their income for joint taxation, are:

Taxable incomeRate
Up to €8,34212.5 per cent
€8,342 to €12,58715.7 per cent
€12,587 to €17,83821.2 per cent
€17,838 to €23,08924.1 per cent
€23,089 to €29,39731.1 per cent
€29,397 to €43,09034.9 per cent
€43,090 to €46,56643.1 per cent
€46,566 to €86,63444.6 per cent
Above €86,63448 per cent

Source: the Tax and Customs Authority (CIRS article 68, as worded by Lei 73-A/2025), read 24 September 2026.

Employees first deduct 8.54 times the IAS (indexante dos apoios sociais – social support index, €537.13 in 2026), or their social security contributions if higher: 11 per cent of gross pay, withheld by the employer, which adds 23.75 per cent. The mínimo de existência (minimum subsistence) means an employee or pensioner earning €12,880 or less – 14 months of the €920 minimum wage – pays no IRS.

Tax credits then cut the bill – €600 per dependant, 15 per cent of health costs up to €1,000, 30 per cent of education costs up to €800, 15 per cent of rent up to €700 – for residents only.

IRS Jovem: under 35 and starting out

IRS Jovem, rewritten by Lei 45-A/2024 from 2025 income, gives anyone up to 35 who is not a dependant a partial exemption on employment and self-employment income in their first 10 years of earning: 100 per cent in year one, 75 per cent in years two to four, 50 per cent in years five to seven and 25 per cent in years eight to ten, capped at 55 times the IAS (€28,737.50 for 2025 income). No degree is required. You opt in yearly in your return and tell your employer your year. Users of the NHR or the IFICI are excluded.

When do you file the Portuguese tax return?

The Modelo 3 return is filed online between 1 April and 30 June. For 2025 income the calendar ran: confirm invoices on e-Fatura and your household by 2 March 2026, check deductible expenses from 16 to 31 March, file in April to June, refund or payment by 31 August 2026.

The AT pre-fills an IRS automático for eligible taxpayers; if you neither confirm nor file by 30 June it counts as filed, and you have 30 days after the assessment to replace it without penalty. Three other taxes follow: IMT and stamp duty when you buy a home, IMI every year as an owner – here the municipality decides, between 0.3 and 0.45 per cent of the taxable value – and IUC on a car.

Customs and pets: bringing your things to Portugal

From outside the EU, household goods enter duty-free under Council Regulation 1186/2009 if you lived outside the EU for at least 12 continuous months, owned and used them for at least six months, and import them within 12 months of settling here; alcohol, tobacco and commercial vehicles are excluded. Travellers from outside the EU may also bring €430 of goods duty-free by air or sea, and must declare cash of €10,000 or more. A car you owned for at least six months can be exempt from ISV (vehicle tax) if you apply within 12 months of the move; part 12 has the steps.

Dogs, cats and ferrets from another EU country – up to five, travelling with you – need a microchip, an EU pet passport and a rabies vaccination given at 12 weeks or older, after chipping, with 21 days' wait after a first dose; new EU rules apply since 22 April 2026. From outside the EU, including Great Britain, add an official veterinary health certificate and, from countries with rabies risk, a blood titration and a 90-day wait; non-EU pets are checked at designated airports and ports for €43.17 (one animal) or €86.34 (more). A pet staying over 120 days must be registered in the SIAC database; restricted breeds also need, from four months, a licence from the junta de freguesia (parish council).

What to do now

StepWhatWhen
1Report your address to the AT and register as residentWithin 60 days
2Job on the IFICI list? Register on the Portal das FinançasBy 15 January of the following year
3Under 35? Tell your employer your IRS Jovem yearWhen you start work
4Confirm invoices and household, then file Modelo 3By 2 March; 1 April to 30 June
5Apply for the ISV exemption for your carWithin 12 months of the move
6Register your pet in SIACIf it stays over 120 days

Source: the Tax and Customs Authority and DGAV, read 24 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 24 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.