Who qualifies for Portugal's IFICI tax regime, and how is income taxed under it?

Checked on 2026-10-25

IFICI is for people who become Portuguese tax residents after five years without residence and work in listed activities such as higher education, research, startups or highly qualified jobs at eligible companies. Salary and self-employed income from that work is taxed at 20% for 10 consecutive years; most foreign income is exempt.

Key facts

What	The law says	Source
Who	New tax residents who were not resident in Portugal in any of the previous five years and work in a listed activity	EBF, art. 58-A.1
Rate on qualifying work income	20% on net employment (category A) and business and professional (category B) income from the qualifying activity, unless you choose to aggregate it	EBF, art. 58-A.2; Código do IRS, art. 1
How long	10 consecutive years from the year you register as a resident	EBF, art. 58-A.2
Foreign income	Categories A, B, E (capital income), F (property income) and G (increases in wealth, incrementos patrimoniais) earned abroad are exempt, but counted to set the rate on your other income	Código do IRS, arts. 1 and 81.4
Foreign pensions	Not exempt: the AT says the exemption excludes category H (pensions)	AT FAQ 5495; Código do IRS, art. 1
Income from blacklisted jurisdictions	Taxed at 35%	Código do IRS, art. 81.5; AT FAQ 5495
Who cannot use it	Current or former NHR beneficiaries; anyone who opted for the ex-resident regime (art. 12-A of the IRS code); anyone who used IFICI before	EBF, art. 58-A.10 and 58-A.12

Which activities qualify

The law lists seven groups (art. 58-A.1):

(a) higher education teaching and scientific research, including jobs in the national science and technology system and in recognised technology and innovation centres;
(b) qualified jobs and board members at companies with contractual tax benefits for productive investment;
(c) highly qualified professions at companies that benefit from the investment support tax regime, or at industrial and service companies with an eligible activity code (CAE) that export at least 50% of turnover;
(d) other qualified jobs and board members at companies whose activities AICEP or IAPMEI recognise as relevant to the national economy;
(e) R&D staff whose costs qualify for the business R&D tax incentive (SIFIDE);
(f) jobs and board members at certified startups;
(g) jobs or activities of residents of the Azores and Madeira, under regional law.

The tax authority’s FAQ adds detail from Portaria 352/2024/1:

Highly qualified professions (group c) include company CEOs and executive managers, administrative, commercial, production and specialised services directors (with exceptions), specialists in physical sciences, mathematics and engineering (with exceptions), industrial product designers, doctors, university professors, and ICT specialists. You need a doctorate, or a bachelor’s or master’s degree with at least three years of professional experience (FAQ 5504).
“Job” means an employment contract. A service contract with a company recognised by AICEP does not qualify under group (d) (FAQ 5502). A university lecturer on a service contract can qualify under group (a) (FAQ 5501).
Company owners. Partners cannot qualify as partners under group (d), but the managing partner of a single-member company can, as a member of a corporate body (FAQ 5503).
Who checks the activity depends on the group: FCT, AICEP, the tax authority (AT), IAPMEI, the National Innovation Agency (ANI) or Startup Portugal (FAQ 5498).

Keeping it for 10 years

For each year, you must be tax resident at some point in that year and keep earning income from a listed activity (art. 58-A.3). If you start a new qualifying activity within six months of the previous one ending, you keep the benefit (art. 58-A.4). If you lose it for one or more years, you can pick it up again for the years left once you are resident and back in a listed activity (art. 58-A.5). The 10 years don’t restart (AT FAQ 5513).

IFICI was added to the Tax Benefits Statute by Lei n.º 82/2023, the same law that revoked the non-habitual resident (NHR) provisions of the IRS code (art. 16.8–16.12).
Withholding: the AT says salary or self-employed income from the qualifying activity can have 20% withheld once you give the payer proof that you submitted the IFICI registration (FAQ 5517).
Records: beneficiaries must keep proof of the activity and income for each year of the regime; employers must keep the relevant documents for 10 years (FAQ 5524).

Sources

Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais, art. 58-A (consolidated text published by the Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) checked 2026-10-25
Código do IRS, art. 81 (consolidated text published by the Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) checked 2026-10-25
Código do IRS, art. 1 (income categories; consolidated text published by the Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) checked 2026-10-25
Código do IRS, art. 16 (consolidated text published by the Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) checked 2026-10-25
Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira, FAQ 'IRS > Incentivo Fiscal-IFICI' (questions 5495–5526) checked 2026-10-25

Change history

2026-10-25: Page created

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