General Daily Briefing: Wednesday, 28 October 2026
Becoming a Tax Resident in Portugal
When you become tax resident in Portugal, the 183-day and home tests, how to change your tax address, and how to prove residence abroad.
Good morning. Here is your Wednesday briefing for 28 October 2026: the day's essential Portugal stories for residents, immigrants and anyone keeping an eye on the country, below this week's featured guide.
- Budget: Parliament votes on the 2027 budget at first reading today, after a first day of debate in which Montenegro refused to shelve his rental law and the Socialists confirmed they will abstain.
- Tax: a new FFMS study finds fuel tax weighs most on car-owning middle-income households and counts 781 tax breaks, 39 percent of them never costed.
- Pensions: the Ombudsman has asked the CGA to explain its cut to 2,937 civil service pensions after receiving 50 complaints.
- Protest law: the Prosecutor-General says he never challenged Parliament to rewrite the 1974 law on demonstrations, and sees no case for a Constitutional Court referral.
- Glória funicular: Carris's insurer Fidelidade has told a Lisbon court that 125,000 euros sought for a victim's loss of life is excessive.
- Douro: Tabuaço council is urging residents to oppose about 30,000 floating solar panels on the Vilar reservoir; comments are open until 24 November.
Sponsored · Partner Content
 | Marcello Valle and Billy Nash at Cervejaria Ramiro |
Billy Nash, host of the property and travel series Passport Properties, sat down at Lisbon's Cervejaria Ramiro with Braga-based buyer's agent Marcello Valle. Over seafood, their conversation kept returning to one idea: people move to…
The 2027 Budget Faces Its First Vote
The debate resumes this morning and the vote follows the closing speeches this afternoon; PSD and CDS-PP vote for and the PS abstains, so the bill will pass. On day one Montenegro said his rental reform does not ease evictions, while Carneiro asked for IHRU homes to go to councils. Anyone can send written comments to Parliament's budget committee until 4 November.
Who Carries the Fuel Tax
The Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos study "Portugal Fiscal" finds fuel spending, as a share of income, peaks between the 20th and 40th income percentiles. It counts 781 tax benefits worth 23,477 million euros, with 39 percent unquantified, and says the old NHR regime still cost 1,854 million euros in 2025.
The Ombudsman Questions the CGA
Pensions awarded from May to August were cut after the CGA decided only a 40-year career can count, with overpayments to be returned. The Ombudsman has 50 complaints, three of them collective, and awaits the CGA's reply. Our article explains how to contact the CGA and how to complain.
No Push From the PGR on the Protest Law
Amadeu Guerra said on Tuesday he "did not challenge Parliament to do anything at all" and opposes changing laws in reaction to events; any change is for the parties. We had reported his Monday remarks as a call for review. Decree-Law 406/74 still requires two working days' notice to the mayor and bars gatherings past 00:30 outdoors.
Fidelidade Contests a Glória Damages Claim
In its defence to a 1.05 million euro claim by a victim's family, the insurer says courts award 50,000 to 90,000 euros for loss of life, that the funicular had several accidents from 2018, and that the case should wait for the criminal inquiry. The family's lawyer calls it an admission that the lift was not reliable.
Tabuaço Against Floating Solar on the Távora
Finerge's Vilar-Tabuaço project would put about 21 MWp of floating solar on the reservoir and four wind turbines nearby. Tabuaço, Sernancelhe and Moimenta da Beira object over water supply, landscape and firefighting aircraft. The APA consultation on Participa runs until 24 November; the official notice says the 23rd, so comment by then.
Also published since yesterday's briefing
- Bank Valuations of Portuguese Homes Climb 14.2 Percent in a Year to 2,278 Euros per Square Metre, With Greater Lisbon Apartments at 3,525 Euros Read →
- Portugal Rewrites Where Its Waste Tax Goes: at Least 60 Percent for Waste Projects From 2027, and Councils That Meet Their Plans Skip the Yearly Rise Read →
- IPO Porto Has Lost Six Anaesthetists, Doctors' Union Says, as the Cancer Hospital Books Pre-Surgery Checks Every 20 Minutes Read →
- Seguro Speaks Out on the Rossio Police Charge as 55 Detained Housing Protesters Face a 6 November Choice Between Paying 150 Euros and Trial Read →
- Public Sector Unions Set a National Strike for 20 November, Four Days Before the Final Vote on the 2027 Budget Read →
- Primary Classes Short of a Teacher Would Be Opened to Basic Education Graduates Without a Master's, Under a Ministry Draft Put to Unions Read →
- Firms Notify 479 Collective Dismissals by September, Up 15.7 Percent, but Fewer Workers Lose Their Jobs Than a Year Ago Read →
- Portugal Trims Daily Sardine Landings by a Sixth From Wednesday to Keep the Fleet Within This Year's 33,446 Tonne Limit Read →
- Portugal's Pension Supervisor Backs Signing Workers Up to Workplace Pensions by Default, Hoping for a Plan Around March 2027 Read →
- European Investment Bank Adds 300 Million Euros for Affordable Homes in Portugal, With 750 Million for Storm Recovery and 400 Million for the Lisbon Metro Read →
- Prison Guards Call a Strike From 17 November to 3 January, and Their Union Says Families Would Get One Visit a Week Read →
- Banks Say the Bank of Portugal's New Repayment Cap Helped Make Mortgages Slightly Harder to Get This Summer, but Expect No Further Tightening Before the New Year Read →
- Only Accredited Taxis Will Get Into Lisbon Airport's Arrivals Rank From 3 November, When a Barrier Starts Checking Each Car: The Fixed Fares and Rules for Passengers Read →
