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UAE Golden Visa$545,000Portugal · Personal tax · Verified 3 September 2026
IFICI Portugal (NHR 2.0): who qualifies for Portugal’s NHR replacement
IFICI replaced Portugal’s Non-Habitual Resident scheme. It taxes qualifying Portuguese employment and self-employment income at a flat 20 percent for ten years and exempts most foreign income. It is far narrower than NHR: eligibility turns on your profession and the company you work through, not on where you live.
Quick reference
IFICI at a glance
Every figure below is drawn from the statute and the implementing regulation rather than from secondary commentary, because a great deal of what is published about this regime is wrong on the dates alone.
Time sensitive
The deadline is not your tax return
Registration happens much earlier and separately. You apply by 15 January of the year after the year in which you became a Portuguese tax resident, a position the Autoridade Tributária sets out in its own taxpayer FAQ. Miss it and the benefit for that year is gone. It cannot be applied retroactively.
| Year you first became tax resident | Registration deadline | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 15 March 2025, under the transitional regime | Closed |
| 2025 | 15 January 2026 | Closed |
| 2026 | 15 January 2027 | Open now |
| 2027 | 15 January 2028 | Opens 2027 |
Filing late is not fatal, but it is expensive. Where registration is submitted after the deadline, the regime applies only from the year of filing and for whatever remains of the ten-year period. A year lost is a year lost. There is also a second deadline people forget: if your circumstances change so that you stop meeting the conditions, you must notify by 15 January of the following year, stating the date eligibility ended.
NHR to IFICI
Is NHR still available in Portugal, and what replaced it?
No. The non-habitual resident regime is closed. NHR stopped accepting new applicants from 1 January 2024 and the transitional registration window has since been exhausted. The regime that replaced it is IFICI, widely called NHR 2.0. For anyone relocating to Portugal now, IFICI is the only inbound tax regime available.
The headline loss is pensions. Under the original NHR, foreign pension income was taxed at a reduced flat rate. Under IFICI it is not covered at all and falls under the ordinary progressive rules. If you are a retiree, IFICI does nothing for you, and any adviser telling you otherwise is not reading the statute.
The second change is the basis of eligibility. NHR was a residence incentive: move to Portugal, register, benefit, more or less regardless of what you did for a living. IFICI is a talent incentive, and the test is applied to your occupation, your qualification and your employer.
| NHR, closed | IFICI | |
|---|---|---|
| Who could qualify | Broad: retirees, remote workers, investors, professionals | Narrow: defined activities, professions and employer types |
| Portuguese income rate | 20 percent on high-value-added activities | 20 percent on eligible-activity income |
| Foreign pensions | Reduced flat rate | Not covered. Ordinary progressive rates. |
| Most other foreign income | Broadly exempt | Broadly exempt, with exemption by progression |
| Duration | Ten years | Ten years |
| Open to new applicants | No | Yes |
Can I still apply for NHR in 2026?
No. Individuals already registered under the non-habitual resident regime, or who met the conditions by the end of 2023, keep their status for the remainder of their ten years and are unaffected by any of this. A transitional window allowed some late registrations into 2025, and it is exhausted. If you did not qualify within it, the original regime is not available to you at any point in the future.
What is the difference between NHR and NHR 2.0?
NHR 2.0 is not an official name. It is shorthand the market adopted for IFICI because the two regimes share a 20 percent headline rate and a ten-year duration. The substance is different: NHR granted the benefit on the basis of moving to Portugal, whereas IFICI grants it on the basis of what you do for a living and who you do it for. If you are researching NHR Portugal because a 2023 article told you it existed, the practical answer is that you are now researching IFICI.
Article 58-A(1)
The seven qualifying routes, and who to apply to
Each route, listed at Article 58-A(1) and detailed in Portaria n.º 352/2024/1, has a different competent body. Applying to the wrong one wastes the year, and this is the most common procedural failure we see. This is the single most useful table on the page.
| Route | Who it covers | Apply to |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Teaching in higher education and scientific research, including scientific employment in entities of the national science and technology system | FCT |
| (b) | Qualified jobs and members of corporate bodies within contractual benefits for productive investment | AICEP or IAPMEI |
| (c)(i) | Highly qualified professions in companies with investments qualifying for RFAI in the year duties start or in the previous five years | AT |
| (c)(ii) | Highly qualified professions in industrial or service companies whose main activity carries a CAE code from Annex II and which export at least 50 percent of turnover | AT |
| (d) | Qualified jobs and members of corporate bodies in entities whose economic activity is recognised as relevant to the national economy | AICEP or IAPMEI |
| (e) | Research and development personnel whose costs are eligible under the business R&D tax incentive | ANI |
| (f) | Jobs and members of corporate bodies in entities certified as startups under Lei n.º 21/2023, de 25 de maio | Startup Portugal |
| (g) | Activities carried out by tax residents of the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira, on terms to be set by regional legislative decree | Pending regional legislation |
A note on route (g), Madeira and the Azores
The statute contemplates regional treatment, but the regional legislative decrees that would give it content have not been finalised. Anyone quoting you a Madeira-specific IFICI outcome today is quoting a regime that does not yet exist in enforceable form. Treat those figures with caution, including ours if you ever see us publish one.
Where applications die
The three tests most people fail
All three must be satisfied. Failing any one of them ends the application, and passing all three still does not guarantee approval, because the competent body assesses the activity and the tax authority assesses everything else.
The five-year lookback
You must not have been a Portuguese tax resident in any of the five calendar years immediately preceding the year you become resident for IFICI purposes. Becoming resident in 2026 means you must not have been resident at any point from 2021 to 2025. This is an anti-abuse rule, it is applied strictly, and there is no waiver. You also cannot ever have benefited from NHR or from the Programa Regressar under Article 12-A. Article 58-A(12) adds a limit that is easy to miss: the regime may be used only once by the same taxpayer, so a single failed or mistimed registration is not something you get to repeat.
Profession and qualification
For routes (c)(i) and (c)(ii), your occupation must appear on the Annex I list, drawn from the Portuguese Classification of Professions. It covers company directors and executives, administrative and commercial services directors, production and specialised services directors, specialists in physical sciences, mathematics and engineering, medical doctors, higher education teachers, ICT specialists, and industrial and product designers. You must also hold an academic qualification at level 6 or above of the European Qualifications Framework, with at least three years of proven professional experience where that qualification sits at level 6 or 7.
The employer test
Under route (c)(ii) the company itself has to qualify. Its main activity must carry one of the CAE codes listed in Annex II, and it must export at least 50 percent of turnover, measured in the year duties begin or in either of the two preceding years. Supplies to other EU member states count toward the 50 percent. A newly incorporated company can therefore satisfy the test in its first year, which matters a great deal if you are structuring for this outcome rather than discovering it.
The most common misunderstanding
Do remote workers qualify?
Usually not. Working remotely from Portugal for a foreign employer that has no Portuguese entity does not meet the criteria. Neither does freelancing for foreign clients through a foreign structure. The regime looks for an eligible activity performed for a qualifying Portuguese entity, and a laptop in Lisbon is not one.
A great many people who assume they inherited the old NHR terms in fact qualify for neither regime, and will be taxed on the ordinary progressive scale. That scale, set out in the Portuguese personal income tax system, reaches 48 percent, and the solidarity surcharge of 2.5 percent between 80,000 and 250,000 euros and 5 percent above that takes the top marginal rate to 53 percent.
There is a route through this for some people, and it runs through the company rather than the visa, which is what our Portugal D2 residency route is built around. See qualifying through structure.
Free, no email required
Check your eligibility
Six questions. You will get a verdict, the route that applies to you, the body you would apply to, and your own filing deadline. Nothing is stored and nothing is sent.
IFICI eligibility screen
Indicative screen based on Article 58-A and Portaria n.º 352/2024/1.
This is an indicative screen, not tax advice. Eligibility is determined by the competent body listed against your route and by the Autoridade Tributária. Answers are not stored or transmitted.
Where we are useful
Qualifying through structure
Because route (c)(ii) turns on the company rather than the person’s location, the CAE code chosen when a Portuguese company is incorporated is often the decision that determines whether its founder can ever access IFICI. It is set at incorporation, it is difficult to change afterwards without questions, and almost nobody thinks about it at the point where it is cheap to get right.
Route (c)(ii)
Exporting founder
A founder whose clients sit outside Portugal can meet the 50 percent export test in the company’s first year, provided the CAE code sits in Annex II and the founder’s own profession and qualification satisfy Annex I.
Route (f)
Certified startup
Certification under Lei n.º 21/2023, filed through Startup Portugal, opens a route that covers both employees and members of the corporate body, and does not depend on the export test at all. It is filed through Startup Portugal.
Route (e)
Research activity
Where the company’s research and development costs are eligible under the business R&D incentive, this route may apply through ANI. It suits deep-tech and product companies with genuine development spend.
Where none of these fit, we say so before you pay. A domestic-market Portuguese company serving Portuguese clients does not open IFICI for its founder, and no amount of structuring changes that. If you need a Portuguese company as part of your move, see the D2 route, which combines company formation, the residence permit and this assessment, or Portuguese company formation on its own.
Artigo 16.º CIRS
How you become a Portuguese tax resident
IFICI is triggered by tax residency, not by a residence permit. Article 16 of the Personal Income Tax Code sets out the tests, and two of them matter here.
The 183-day test
You are resident if you spend more than 183 days, consecutive or not, in Portuguese territory in any twelve-month period beginning or ending in the tax year concerned. Any day involving an overnight stay counts as a full day. Because the window is any twelve months touching the year rather than the calendar year alone, days at the end of one year combine with days at the start of the next.
The dwelling test
Having stayed for less than 183 days, you are still resident if you have in Portugal, on any day of the year, a dwelling in conditions that suggest a current intention to keep and occupy it as your habitual residence. Since 2015 Portugal has applied partial-year residency, so residency begins on the first day the condition is met rather than at some later threshold date.
The practical consequence for IFICI is that the ten-year clock can start earlier than most people assume. The consequence in the other direction is that a home kept in Portugal for convenience can make you resident, and taxable on worldwide income, without you ever counting a day. Which of those two you are looking at is a question for advice on your specific facts, not for a web page.
The arithmetic
What IFICI is actually worth
On income falling in the top band, the difference is 20 percent against a marginal rate that reaches 48 percent before the solidarity surcharge, and 53 percent with it.
2,000
Euros of tax under IFICI at the flat 20 percent rate.
4,800
Euros of tax on the ordinary scale at the 48 percent top marginal rate.
5,300
Euros of tax once the solidarity surcharge applies at the top of the scale.
Three things people get wrong when they model this
| Social security still applies | IFICI is an income tax measure. Contributions are unaffected by it. |
| Exempt is not invisible | Exempt foreign income is exempt by progression, so it still influences the rate applied to income taxed on the ordinary scale. |
| Blacklisted jurisdictions | Income sourced in non-cooperative jurisdictions is taxed at a flat 35 percent and does not receive the exemption. |
You must also still file an annual IRS return. IFICI changes how qualifying income is taxed. It does not remove the obligation to report worldwide income.
Honest comparison
Where IFICI loses
IFICI is not automatically the best inbound regime in Europe, and pretending otherwise wastes your time and ours.
| Regime | Headline | Where it wins |
|---|---|---|
| Spain, Beckham regime | 24 percent flat on Spanish employment income to a cap, six years, broad eligibility | Better for most non-research employees, because eligibility does not turn on occupation lists or employer export ratios |
| Italy, retiree flat tax | 7 percent on foreign income for pensioners settling in qualifying municipalities | Better for retirees, for whom IFICI does nothing at all |
| Cyprus non-domicile | Exemptions on dividends and interest for non-domiciled residents | Better for investors living on passive income rather than earned income |
| Portugal, IFICI | 20 percent flat, ten years, plus a broad foreign-income exemption | Best for qualifying professionals and founders with significant foreign-source income alongside Portuguese earnings |
Process
How to apply
Six stages, in order. The sequence matters more than most people expect, because two of the stages have fixed dates and one of them depends on your employer rather than on you.
Establish tax residency
Become a Portuguese tax resident under Article 16 and update your address with the Autoridade Tributária.
Identify your route
Work out which of the seven routes under Article 58-A(1) applies and which body is competent for it. Applying to the wrong body wastes the year.
Assemble evidence
Employment contract, service agreement, research grant or commercial registry entry for a corporate office. Academic qualifications. An employer declaration where the route requires one.
Submit by 15 January
File by 15 January of the year following your first year of residency, through Portal das Finanças or the competent body.
Employer confirmation
Under route (c), the tax authority asks your employer to confirm the position each year by 15 March, covering both the qualifying criteria and the fact that you are performing highly qualified work.
Keep records, every year
Retain records of your activity and income for every year the regime applies. The tax authority can request them at any point in the ten years.
What we charge
Fixed fee, government fees included
The IFICI assessment is included in our Portugal package. That package covers Portuguese company formation, the D2 residence route, and IFICI assessment and registration where you qualify. Government fees are included at the rates current on 3 September 2026.
Read this before you pay anyone, including us. IFICI eligibility depends on your professional activity and the company you work through, not on holding a residence permit. We assess eligibility before you commit and structure the company to qualify where your business model permits. Where it does not, we tell you before you pay.
We do not charge for the eligibility screen and we do not take an advance before due diligence is complete.
Questions we get asked
IFICI FAQ
Is IFICI the same thing as NHR 2.0?
Yes. NHR 2.0 is informal shorthand. The regime on the statute book is IFICI, under Article 58-A of the Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais, regulated by Portaria n.º 352/2024/1.
When did IFICI actually start?
It applies to taxpayers who became Portuguese tax resident on or after 1 January 2024. The implementing regulation was published on 23 December 2024 and came into force the following day, with retroactive effect to the start of 2024. You will see 2025 quoted in a lot of places. That is wrong.
Can I still apply for the old NHR?
No. NHR closed to new entrants from 1 January 2024 and the transitional registration window has been exhausted. If you did not qualify or register within it, you cannot access the original regime now, whenever you plan to move.
Are foreign pensions exempt under IFICI?
No. Unlike the original NHR, foreign pension income is taxed under the ordinary progressive rules. This is the single largest difference between the two regimes.
I work remotely for a foreign employer. Do I qualify?
Probably not on those facts alone. The regime looks at your occupation, your qualification and the entity you perform the activity for. A foreign employer with no Portuguese presence does not satisfy the employer test. Some people in this position can qualify by restructuring how they invoice, which is what the section on structure covers.
What is the deadline if I become resident in 2026?
15 January 2027. If you become resident in 2027, it is 15 January 2028.
What happens if I miss the deadline?
You lose the benefit for that year permanently. If you register late, the regime applies only from the year of filing and for the remaining years of the ten-year period.
I lived in Portugal until 2023. Can I apply now?
Not yet. You must not have been a Portuguese tax resident in any of the five calendar years before the year of application. If you were resident in 2023, the earliest year you could become resident for IFICI purposes is 2029.
Does a D7 or D8 visa get me IFICI?
No. No visa confers IFICI. Eligibility runs through your professional activity and the entity you work for. A residence permit only puts you in a position to become tax resident.
Does forming a Portuguese company get me IFICI?
Not on its own. It can open the door if the company carries a qualifying CAE code and meets the export test, or is certified as a startup, or has qualifying research and development costs, and if your own profession and qualification satisfy the Annex I test.
Does IFICI apply differently in Madeira or the Azores?
The statute contemplates regional treatment under route (g), but the regional legislative decrees that would define it have not been finalised. Treat any Madeira-specific IFICI figure you are quoted today with caution.
Do I still have to file a Portuguese tax return?
Yes. IFICI changes how qualifying income is taxed. It does not remove the obligation to report your worldwide income each year.
How long does IFICI last?
Ten consecutive years from the year of registration as a tax resident, provided you remain resident and continue to earn income from an eligible activity in each of those years. If the run is interrupted, the tax authority confirms the remaining years can be resumed once you are again a Portuguese tax resident earning income from a qualifying activity. The regime itself may only ever be used once.
Is IFICI better than Spain’s Beckham regime?
Not always. For a non-research employee on Spanish employment income, Beckham is often better, because eligibility does not depend on occupation lists or an employer export test. IFICI tends to win for qualifying professionals with significant foreign-source income.
Is NHR still available in Portugal in 2026?
No. The non-habitual resident regime closed to new applicants from 1 January 2024 and the transitional registration window has been exhausted. Existing NHR holders keep their status for the remainder of their ten years. New arrivals apply for IFICI instead.
What replaced the NHR regime in Portugal?
IFICI, the tax incentive for scientific research and innovation, created by Article 58-A of the Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais. It is commonly called NHR 2.0, although that is not an official name.
Is NHR 2.0 the same as the old NHR?
They share a 20 percent headline rate and a ten-year duration, and nothing else that matters. NHR granted the benefit for moving to Portugal. IFICI grants it for what you do and who you do it for, and it does not cover foreign pensions.
Can I be tax resident without spending 183 days in Portugal?
Yes. Article 16 also treats you as resident if you have a dwelling in Portugal in conditions suggesting a current intention to keep and occupy it as your habitual residence, even below the day threshold. Whether that helps you or harms you depends on your circumstances and is a question for advice.
Continue reading
The rest of the Portugal cluster
Portugal D2 residency
Residency through your own Portuguese company, with company formation and this IFICI assessment in one mandate from 4,500 euros.
Portuguese company formation
Sociedade Unipessoal Lda from incorporation to bank account, with the activity code chosen so IFICI stays reachable.
Cyprus as an alternative
For investors living on dividends and interest rather than earned income, the Cyprus non-domicile route often beats IFICI outright.
Verification
Sources
Primary legislation
- Portaria n.º 352/2024/1, de 23 de dezembroThe implementing regulation. Contains Annex I, the highly qualified professions, and Annex II, the qualifying CAE activity codes.
- Portaria n.º 52-A/2025/1, de 25 de fevereiroAmends the above and routes registration through Portal das Finanças.
- Artigo 58.º-A, Estatuto dos Benefícios FiscaisThe article itself, added by Article 263 of Lei n.º 82/2023 of 29 December, the 2024 State Budget. In force from 1 January 2024.
- Diário da República, official PDFSeries I, no. 248, 23 December 2024, pages 40 to 45.
Official guidance
- Autoridade Tributária, IFICI taxpayer FAQThe tax authority’s own answers on how income is taxed under the regime.
- FCT, registration for research and teaching activityThe competent body for route (a), in English.
- AICEP Portugal Global, IFICIQualified job posts and activities recognised as relevant to the national economy.
- Ordem dos Contabilistas Certificados, practical guideProfessional body guidance covering the Despacho n.º 2416-A/2025 registration form and the AT circular of 26 February 2025.
- Portal das FinançasWhere the registration itself is filed.
Last verified 3 September 2026. Tax law changes without notice and nothing on this page is advice on your circumstances. Where a figure matters to a decision, confirm it against the primary sources above at the point you act. Related reading on this site: the Portugal D2 visa, Portuguese company formation, and the Russian version of this page.