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Qualifying for the IFICI Tax Regime That Replaced NHR

Researched and written with AI tools from official sources. How we make our guides

Who qualifies for IFICI, the 20% rate for skilled work, the foreign income exemption, how to register by 15 January, and what happens to NHR holders.

The Portugal Brief 9 min read

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You are moving to Portugal for skilled work in research, higher education, a startup, or a qualifying company.
  • You have not been tax resident in Portugal at any time in the last five years.
  • You already hold the old NHR status and want to know how long it lasts.

Not for you if: you will live on a pension or investments. Read Retiring in Portugal instead. If you are a returning emigrant, read Claiming the Returning Resident Tax Break (Programa Regressar).

IFICI is Portugal's tax incentive for scientific research and innovation (incentivo fiscal à investigação científica e inovação). If you qualify, your salary or self-employed income from the qualifying work is taxed at a flat 20% for 10 years. Most foreign income is exempt, but foreign pensions are not. IFICI replaced the non-habitual resident regime (NHR), which is closed to new people. You register free on the Portal das Finanças by 15 January of the year after you become tax resident. Retirees and investors do not qualify.

What IFICI gives you

If your registration is accepted, you get these for 10 consecutive years:

  • A flat 20% rate on your net salary and self-employed income from the qualifying activity in Portugal. Without IFICI, the top rate for 2026 is 48%. You can choose the normal rates instead if they work out lower.
  • An exemption on most foreign income. Foreign salary, self-employed income, investment income, rent, and gains are exempt.
  • 20% withholding from your pay. Give your employer or payer proof that you applied, and they withhold at 20%.

The foreign income exemption has limits:

  • Foreign pensions are taxed. They go into your return at the normal rates.
  • Income from tax havens is taxed at 35%. This covers income paid by entities in countries on Portugal's list of low-tax jurisdictions.
  • Exempt foreign income still counts when your rate is set. You declare it on your return, and it is added in to work out the rate on your other income.

Who qualifies

You must meet all of these conditions:

  1. You become tax resident in Portugal. You are resident if you spend more than 183 days here in any 12-month period, or have a home here that you seem to intend to keep as your usual home.
  2. You were not tax resident in Portugal in any of the previous five years.
  3. You have never had NHR status, you do not use the returning resident break (Programa Regressar), and you have not used IFICI before.
  4. You work in a qualifying activity and earn income from it.

The qualifying activities, and who checks each one, are:

ActivityWho checks it
Teaching in higher education and scientific research, including research jobs in the national science system and at technology and innovation centresFCT, the science and technology foundation
Qualified jobs at companies with contractual investment tax benefitsAICEP, the trade and investment agency
Highly qualified professions at companies that receive investment tax support, or at industrial and service companies that export at least 50% of their turnoverThe tax authority (AT)
Qualified jobs at companies in activities that AICEP or IAPMEI, the business agency, recognise as relevant to the economyAICEP (for groups with turnover of €75 million or more, or national interest projects) or IAPMEI (others)
Research and development staff whose costs qualify for the R&D tax creditANI, the national innovation agency
Jobs directly involved in research or innovation at certified startupsStartup Portugal
Jobs and activities in the Azores and Madeira, under regional rulesThe regional governments

Board members (members of governing bodies) of the companies in most of these groups can also qualify.

You usually need an employment contract. The tax authority says the word "job" in these routes means an employment contract. A service contract with a recognised company does not count. Teaching in higher education under a service contract does count.

What qualifications you need

The level depends on the route:

  • Highly qualified professions: a doctorate, or a bachelor's or master's degree plus at least three years of professional experience. The job must be on the official list, which includes company directors and managers, engineers and scientists, doctors, university teachers, and IT specialists.
  • Qualified jobs at AICEP or IAPMEI companies, and at companies with investment contracts: at least a level 5 qualification on the European scale (a higher technical professional diploma).
  • R&D staff checked by ANI: at least a level 4 qualification on the national scale, and direct involvement in R&D tasks.

If your profession is regulated in Portugal, you must also meet its own rules.

Who does not qualify

IFICI is built around active, skilled work. You cannot use it if:

  • you are retired and your income is a pension;
  • your income is mainly dividends, rent, or gains;
  • you have had NHR status, or IFICI before;
  • you choose the returning resident break instead.

If you work remotely for a company abroad, do not assume you qualify. The routes depend on the Portuguese entity and the job, and most foreign employers do not fit. Check your job against the routes before you rely on the 20% rate.

A visa does not decide this. A D7, D8, or Golden Visa gives you the right to live here, not IFICI.

If you get IFICI, you cannot later use the young worker relief (IRS Jovem).

How to apply

  1. Get a NIF (tax number) and a Portal das Finanças password. See Getting a NIF (Tax Number) in Portugal.
  2. Become tax resident and change your tax address to Portugal at Finanças. See Becoming a Tax Resident in Portugal.
  3. Confirm your route with your employer. Ask which activity your job falls under and which body checks it.
  4. Register on the Portal das Finanças by 15 January of the year after the year you became resident. Go to Cidadãos, then Serviços, then Benefícios Fiscais, then Inscrição no IFICI, then Entregar Pedido. Fill in the form and attach the documents your route needs.
  5. Give your employer or payer proof of the application, so they withhold at 20%.
  6. The checking body confirms your activity. The bodies report to the tax authority by 15 February. For highly qualified professions, the tax authority asks your employer to confirm through its own portal account.
  7. Check the result in your portal account. The tax authority shows the status of your registration by 31 March.

If you became resident in 2026, your deadline is 15 January 2027.

If your file is incomplete, the tax authority writes to ask for what is missing. Your request is not cancelled automatically.

Documents you may need

The bodies may ask for different documents, depending on the route. Common ones are:

  • your employment contract, if you have a job;
  • an up-to-date commercial register certificate, if you sit on a company board;
  • your research grant contract, if you are a researcher;
  • proof of your qualifications;
  • a declaration from the company, where it applies;
  • any other document the body asks for.

FCT may also ask for proof of your social security registration and an employer's description of your duties. ANI may ask for a company declaration describing the R&D project, its dates, and your role.

If you miss the 15 January deadline

You can still register late. The benefit then starts in the year you register, not the year you arrived. It still ends 10 years after it would have started, so you lose the years you missed.

For example, if you became resident in 2026 but register in 2028, you get the 20% rate from 2028 to 2035. The years 2026 and 2027 are taxed at the normal rates.

Keeping the benefit for 10 years

  • Report changes by 15 January. If you change employer, or the checking body changes, tell the tax authority on the portal by 15 January of the next year, and submit a new registration. The 10-year count keeps running.
  • Start a new qualifying job within six months. If one activity ends and a new qualifying one starts within six months, you keep the benefit.
  • If you stop qualifying, tell the tax authority by 15 January of the next year. The benefit ends on the date you stop meeting the conditions.
  • If you leave Portugal, the benefit pauses. If you come back and qualify again within the 10 years, you use the years that remain.
  • Keep records. Keep proof of your activity and income for every year of the benefit. Your employer must keep its records for 10 years.
  • File every year. File your income tax return between 1 April and 30 June, and declare your worldwide income, including exempt foreign income. You report IFICI income on Anexo L. See Filing Your Annual Income Tax Return (IRS) in Portugal.

If you already have NHR

The NHR regime was revoked from 1 January 2024. If you were already registered, you keep it for the rest of your 10 years, as long as you are resident.

  • The transition covered people who became resident in 2024. They needed proof of one of these, for example: a job contract or job offer signed by 31 December 2023; a lease, or a reservation or promise contract to buy a home, signed by 10 October 2023; a school place for a dependant completed by 10 October 2023; or a residence visa or permit valid on 31 December 2023, or applied for by then.
  • Late registration is still possible for that group. If you became resident in 2024 and register after 31 March 2025, NHR applies from the year you register, only until the end of the 10th year counted from 2024. So the last NHR years end in 2033.
  • Foreign pensions under NHR are taxed at 10% for people registered from 2020. Earlier registrations follow transitional rules; ask a certified accountant.
  • You cannot swap NHR for IFICI. The tax authority says that once you have used NHR, you cannot give it up to join IFICI or IRS Jovem.
  • If you become non-resident, NHR pauses automatically when your foreign address is recorded. It restarts if you return within your 10-year period.

When your 10 years end, you move to the normal rates. Plan for that change a year ahead.

How you are taxed without IFICI

If you are resident and do not qualify, Portugal taxes your worldwide income at the normal rates. For 2026 they run from 12.5% to 48%, with flat rates of 28% on most investment income and gains. Foreign pensions are added to your other income. Treaties stop you paying full tax twice on the same income. See How Taxes Work in Portugal and Avoiding Double Taxation in Portugal.

Social security contributions are separate from income tax. IFICI does not reduce them.

What it costs

Registering for IFICI is free. Many people use a certified accountant (contabilista certificado) for the first return, especially with foreign income. Fees are not set by law, so ask for a written quote.

This guide is general information, not tax advice. Rules change; check the official source, or ask a certified accountant, before you act.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

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