IFICI, the “new NHR”: who qualifies, what it saves and how to register by 15 January 2027
IFICI taxes income from a qualifying activity at a flat 20% for ten years and exempts most foreign-source income. It is narrower than the regime it replaced: seven listed kinds of work, each checked by a named public body, and nothing happens until you register. If you became tax resident in Portugal in 2026, the deadline is 15 January 2027.
A tax incentive for an activity, not a status for newcomers
IFICI, the incentivo fiscal à investigação científica e inovação, is article 58.º-A of the Tax Benefits Statute. It was added by Lei 82/2023, the 2024 State Budget that closed the non-habitual resident (NHR) regime to new entrants. Portaria 352/2024/1, amended by Portaria 52-A/2025/1, sets the registration procedure and the lists of professions and activities (art. 1.º Portaria 352/2024/1). It applies to people who become tax resident in Portugal from 1 January 2024 (art. 11.º Portaria 352/2024/1). The tax authority (AT) set out its reading in Ofício Circulado 20276/2025, cited throughout.
Calling it the “new NHR” is half right. It is the regime for new arrivals that took NHR’s place in the same law, and anyone who is or was an NHR is excluded from it. But IFICI depends on a verified activity. AICEP calls it a benefit “only for individuals, exclusively for IRS”. Moving to Portugal does not get you in, and a foreign pension is not exempt.
Seven routes, each with its own gatekeeper
The activities are points (a) to (g) of the statute. A named body checks the activity; the AT checks everything else, including residence (art. 3.º(1) Portaria 352/2024/1).
| Route | In plain words | Checked by | Qualification and contract |
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) | Higher-education teaching and scientific research, including technology and innovation centres (art. 58.º-A(1)(a) EBF) | FCT | Teaching on a contract for services is accepted |
| (b) | Qualified jobs and board members in companies with a contractual investment benefit (Investment Tax Code, CFI, chapter II) | AICEP | EQF level 5; employer statement |
| (c) | Highly qualified professions in (i) companies with relevant investments under the RFAI, or (ii) exporting industrial and service companies (art. 58.º-A(1)(c) EBF) | AT | Doctorate, or EQF 6 degree plus three years’ documented experience |
| (d) | Qualified jobs and board members in activities recognised by AICEP or IAPMEI as relevant to the economy | IAPMEI or AICEP | EQF level 5; a job means an employment contract |
| (e) | R&D staff whose costs are eligible for SIFIDE II (CFI article 37(1)(b)) | ANI | QNQ level 4; directly involved in R&D |
| (f) | Jobs and board members in start-ups certified under Law 21/2023 (art. 58.º-A(1)(f) EBF) | Startup Portugal | Job directly involved in research or innovation |
| (g) | Regional routes in the Azores and Madeira | The autonomous region | Madeira: professions and sectors still to be set |
Verifying bodies under art. 2.º(2) Portaria 352/2024/1. The qualification levels for (b), (d) and (e), and the “directly involved” tests for (e) and (f), come from official guidance rather than the statute.
Route (c) is the one the AT verifies itself, and the only one with a degree test: a doctorate (EQF 8), or EQF level 6 plus three years of documented experience, which the AT reads as a licenciatura or master’s plus three years (art. 7.º(2) Portaria 352/2024/1). The profession must be in Annex I: chief executives (CPP 112), administrative, commercial, production and services managers (12, 13), science and engineering specialists (21), industrial designers (2163.1), doctors (221), university teachers (231) and ICT specialists (25). Under (c)(ii) the company’s main activity must be an Annex II CAE code (art. 8.º Portaria 352/2024/1), covering mining, manufacturing, information and communication, R&D, higher education and health, and it must export at least 50% of turnover in the year you start or either of the two before; intra-EU supplies count. Under (c)(i), the company’s directors and managers are deemed highly qualified.
Route (d) covers the widest range of activities. The lists published by IAPMEI and AICEP in February 2025 include manufacturing, energy, civil engineering, hotels, information and communication, holding and fund management, head offices, engineering and R&D, higher education, health and PIN or PII projects. The jobs list is wider than route (c)’s, and company managers and directors count. IAPMEI decides where the company’s consolidated turnover was below €75m or it has no approved accounts yet; AICEP decides above that.
Four conditions that apply whatever the job
Under art. 16.º(1) CIRS: more than 183 days here in any 12-month period beginning or ending in the year, or a home kept in conditions suggesting you intend to occupy it as your habitual residence. Any day with an overnight stay counts.
Residence starts on the first day of presenceThe look-back in art. 58.º-A(1) EBF is about residence, not passports: Portuguese citizens qualify on the same terms. One year of Portuguese residence in the previous five rules you out.
Nationality is irrelevantAnyone who benefits or has benefited from the non-habitual resident regime, and anyone who has opted for the former-residents regime of art. 12.º-A CIRS, is excluded (art. 58.º-A(10) EBF). Income from jobs counted under CFI article 22(2)(c), which the AT links to the RFAI, is also left out (art. 58.º-A(11) EBF).
Ex-NHRs cannot switchThe regime can be used only once by the same taxpayer (art. 58.º-A(12) EBF). Returning lets you resume within your original ten years, never start new ones.
No second ten yearsIRS Jovem is barred for anyone who benefits or has benefited from IFICI (art. 12.º-B(9)(b) CIRS), so a young professional who could use either has to choose.
Shares do not qualify you. A role might.
Founders. The AT’s position is explicit: shareholders cannot benefit simply because they hold shares. A sole shareholder who is also the manager (sócio-gerente) of a single-member company can be eligible as a member of a corporate body, if a route applies and every other requirement is met. Routes (b), (d) and (f) name board members expressly. The Tribunal de Contas flags self-controlled employers and companies created for the benefit as risks, and the AT is building IFICI-specific risk criteria, so a founder’s file should show real work. Taking money out of the company is covered in paying yourself from a Portuguese company.
Employees and freelancers. The AT reads “job” in routes (a), (b), (d), (f) and (g) as an employment contract. A contract for services with an AICEP-recognised company therefore does not qualify under (d). Self-employed income is not excluded as such: the 20% covers Category B, and the AT accepts a university teacher on a contract for services under route (a). For freelancers, the route decides.
Remote workers. The remote-work residence visa (art. 61.º-B Lei 23/2007) is an immigration route, not a tax regime. In our reading, working from Portugal for an employer abroad is not an eligible activity in itself: every route needs an activity in a qualifying entity, checked by a named body, and no source we have read says otherwise. A Portuguese company hiring the same person needs an employed-work route instead, set out in our guide to hiring a non-EU employee. The tax position of the remote set-up is in our remote-work analysis; what your move does to a company you own is in residency and your company.
Six questions before you build a plan on 20%
In the statute’s order: residence, the five-year look-back, the exclusions, then the route. A pre-check, not a ruling.
1Do you become tax resident in Portugal this year?
2Were you resident in Portugal in any of the five years before that?
3Have you ever used one of these regimes?
4Which describes the work you will do in Portugal?
5On what basis will you work?
6Your highest qualification
Answer the first four questions and the result appears here. Questions five and six matter for most routes.
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Indicative, not advice. It cannot see the company’s CAE code, export share or turnover, or your profession code, and those decide most files. The verifying body and the AT apply the tests to your documents.
20% on the qualifying work, exemption on most foreign income
Net employment (Category A) and business and professional (Category B) income from the eligible activity may be taxed at 20% for ten consecutive years from the year you are registered as resident (art. 58.º-A(2) EBF). You may opt for aggregation instead.
Only the qualifying work, not all your incomeForeign-source income in Categories A, B, E (investment income), F (rents) and G (capital gains) is taxed under the exemption method (art. 81.º(4) CIRS). It must still be added in when working out the rate on your other income (art. 22.º(4) CIRS). No condition requires the income to have been taxed abroad.
Exemption with progressionPensions (Category H) are not exempt. Income paid by an entity in a listed tax haven with no Portuguese establishment is taxed at 35% (art. 81.º(5) CIRS), under art. 71.º(17)(b) CIRS or art. 72.º(18) CIRS. The AT’s example: Dubai dividends to a start-up employee under IFICI, 35%.
Check the source country before relying on the exemptionOther Portuguese work income, rents, interest and gains are taxed as for any resident; Portuguese dividends carry 28% or can be aggregated (art. 72.º(1) CIRS). Art. 58.º-A says nothing about social security, and we read contributions as following the normal rules.
No social security reliefWhat 20% is worth on a salary
Enter a gross annual salary. The calculator works out the 2026 general-scale tax and the IFICI tax on the same base, and the difference over a year and over ten.
Both sides start from gross salary less the specific deduction: €4,587.09 (8.54 × IAS), or 11% employee social security where that is higher. The general side then applies the art. 68.º table and the solidarity surcharge; the IFICI side applies 20%.
| Gross salary | Taxable | General scale and surcharge | IFICI 20% | Difference a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €60,000 | €53,400 | €15,374.92 | €10,680.00 | €4,694.92 |
| €80,000 | €71,200 | €23,313.72 | €14,240.00 | €9,073.72 |
| €120,000 | €106,800 | €40,546.83, of which €670 surcharge | €21,360.00 | €19,186.83 |
| €200,000 | €178,000 | €76,502.83, of which €2,450 surcharge | €35,600.00 | €40,902.83 |
Same assumptions as the calculator. Surcharge under art. 68.º-A(1) CIRS; specific deduction under art. 25.º(1)(a) CIRS.
The saving grows with salary, because the general scale reaches 48% above €86,634 of taxable income (art. 68.º(1) CIRS) while IFICI stays flat. Below a gross salary of roughly €32,500 the general scale costs less than 20%, and the option to aggregate protects you. The calculator does not value the foreign-income exemption. The employer’s cost of a hire, contributions included, is modelled in our guide to hiring your first employee.
Who applies, where, with what, and by when
The taxpayer applies, not the employer (art. 2.º(1) Portaria 352/2024/1). Since 26 February 2025 every route uses one channel, the Portal das Finanças (art. 4.º(4) Portaria 352/2024/1), with the form approved under art. 9.º Portaria 352/2024/1: “Inscrição no IFICI”, then “Entregar Pedido”.
Applications are filed by taxpayers registered as resident, so your tax record must show Portuguese residence first; see the NIF for non-residents.
The employment contract, or a current commercial registry certificate for a board member, or the research-grant contract; proof of qualifications; the employer’s statement; anything else requested (art. 4.º(1) Portaria 352/2024/1). The statement is required for routes (b) to (e) (art. 10.º(2) Portaria 352/2024/1); for (c) the company confirms online.
By 15 January of the year after the one in which you became resident. For 2026 arrivals that is 15 January 2027. An incomplete file is not cancelled automatically: you are notified and given a deadline.
Monthly pay is then withheld at 20% (art. 99.º(8) CIRS), and so is Category B income paid by entities with organised accounts (art. 101.º(1)(d) CIRS). It is a payment on account: if the application is refused, the general rates apply on assessment.
The bodies report to the AT by 15 February. For route (c) the AT sends the details to the company by the end of February and the company confirms by 15 March. Your status, with downloadable proof, is on the Portal by 31 March (art. 6.º Portaria 352/2024/1).
Registration alone does not make you a beneficiary: you elect the regime in the annual return.
If you miss 15 January, the regime is not lost. Register later and the 20% applies from the year of registration for what is left of the ten years (art. 58.º-A(7) EBF): resident in 2025, registered on 10 January 2029, benefit 2029 to 2034. The 31 March date some guides quote was a one-off for 2024 arrivals. A pending NHR application ends when the IFICI application is approved (art. 12.º(2) Portaria 352/2024/1). The rest of the tax year is in our reporting calendar.
- Identify the route and the verifying body, and test the profession and CAE codes against the Portaria’s annexes before anything is filed.
- Prepare the application and the document set, draft the employer’s statement, and coordinate with the employer and the verifying body until the status is published.
- Run payroll withholding at 20% from the month proof of filing exists, and elect the regime in the annual IRS return.
Ten consecutive years, on conditions checked every year
The ten years are consecutive and counted from the year you are registered as resident in Portugal. The benefit within them depends on the conditions being met in each year.
| Rule | What it means | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Each year | Tax resident at some point in the year, and still earning income from an eligible activity | art. 58.º-A(3) EBF |
| Changing jobs | Income counts as continuing if the new eligible activity starts within six months of the old one ending. Teaching ends 15 June 2026, a start-up job starts 15 September: the right is kept, notified by 15 January 2027 | art. 58.º-A(4) EBF |
| Notifying changes | By 15 January of the following year. A new application if the verifying body or confirming company changes. The clock does not restart; the benefit stops when the requirements do | art. 5.º Portaria 352/2024/1 |
| Gaps | Resume in the years that remain. Benefit 2024–2028, abroad in 2029, back in 2030: 2030–2033 left | art. 58.º-A(5) EBF |
| Records | Keep yearly evidence of the activity, income and conditions for the AT. Companies and bodies keep documents for ten years | art. 128.º CIRS; art. 10.º(3) Portaria 352/2024/1 |
IFICI, IRS Jovem and Regressar: pick one
The three cannot be combined. Where someone qualifies for more than one, salary, age, foreign income and the activity decide.
| IFICI | IRS Jovem | Regressar | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basis | art. 58.º-A EBF | art. 12.º-B CIRS | art. 12.º-A CIRS |
| Who | New residents not resident in the previous five years, in an eligible activity | Taxpayers aged up to 35 who are not dependants | Former residents returning by 2026 after five years away, tax affairs in order |
| What | 20% on Category A and B income from the activity; foreign income largely exempt | Partial exemption of Category A and B income: 100% in year 1, 75% in years 2–4, 50% in years 5–7, 25% in years 8–10, capped at 55 × IAS (€29,542.15 in 2026) | 50% of Category A and B income excluded, up to €250,000 for people resident from 2024 |
| How long | 10 consecutive years | First 10 years of earning income | 5 years |
| How | Register by 15 January, then elect in the return | Elected in the IRS return | An option by the taxpayer |
| Conflicts | Excluded for ex-NHRs and Regressar opters | Barred for IFICI, NHR and Regressar beneficiaries and for people with tax arrears | Not for anyone who applied for NHR; electing it bars IFICI |
The €250,000 cap is the top of the first surcharge band (art. 68.º-A(1) CIRS). The 2027 budget bill proposes extending Regressar to people who become resident in 2027.
946 registered, 92 beneficiaries for 2024
The first official figures come from the Tribunal de Contas opinion on the 2025 State Accounts, using AT data extracted in May 2026.
- 946 registered by May 2026: 147 in the 2024 cohort and 799 in the 2025 cohort, separate groups
- 75.6% were directors and managers or ICT specialists; company directors and managers alone were 24.6%
- 11.3% were in higher-education teaching and research
- Of the 147 registered for 2024, 82 used the benefit, revised to 92 by 7 May 2026
- 169 applications not certified or rejected by the verifying bodies
- 65 refused by the AT
- 16 registrants found no longer to meet the residence requirement
The tax expenditure was about €1.5m in 2025 for 2024 income, roughly €18,600 per beneficiary. The Tribunal criticised the lack of any prior cost estimate and listed the risks it sees: Portuguese income moved abroad to use the exemption, a centre of life kept elsewhere, self-controlled employers and companies created for the benefit. For the wider picture of who settles in Portugal, see who moves to Portugal.
2027: a budget proposal that leaves IFICI alone
The 2027 State Budget is a bill, and as submitted it does not touch IFICI. In Proposta de Lei 110/XVII/2.ª the words “58.º-A”, “IFICI” and “residente não habitual” do not appear. Its IRS changes are limited to Regressar, the rate table, the surcharge and the minimum-subsistence rule of art. 70.º(1) CIRS; in the Tax Benefits Statute it amends only art. 19.º-B EBF and extends the intellectual-property regime of art. 58.º EBF, not 58.º-A, to 2031. It proposes Regressar for 2027 arrivals, lower 2027 rates in the first six bands and a €89,995 surcharge threshold. The final vote is on 24 November 2026; committee amendments are still possible.
The 2026 rate cut is authorised, not in force. Lei 64-B/2026, published on 22 October 2026, authorises the Government to cut the general rates of the first six bands. The decree-law that would make the cut has not been published, so the calculator uses the table in force, set by Lei 73-A/2025. If the cut arrives, the general-scale figures and the saving fall slightly.
Before 15 January, and what not to assume
- Fix the date you became resident and check the five previous years
- Name the route and the body that will verify it
- For route (c), check the profession code, the company’s CAE and export share, and proof of experience
- Ask the employer for its statement, or confirm it will sign off online by 15 March
- File on the Portal and send payroll the proof
- Elect the regime in the IRS return; diary 15 January every year for changes
- That your employer registers you, or that it happens automatically
- That holding shares in your company qualifies you
- That remote work for a foreign employer is an eligible activity
- That a foreign pension is exempt
- That you can combine IFICI with IRS Jovem or Regressar
- That a missed deadline loses the whole regime
What people ask before they register
Is IFICI the new NHR?
It replaced it for new arrivals, but it is narrower. IFICI applies only to people who carry on one of seven listed kinds of activity, each checked by a named body, and it is an income tax (IRS) benefit only. The non-habitual resident regime closed to new entrants with Lei 82/2023, and anyone who is or was an NHR cannot use IFICI (art. 58.º-A(10)(a) EBF). Foreign pensions, which many people associate with NHR, are not exempt under IFICI.
I work remotely for a company outside Portugal. Do I qualify?
Not through that work alone. The remote-work residence visa is an immigration route, not a tax regime. Every IFICI route needs an activity in a qualifying entity, verified by the AT, FCT, AICEP, IAPMEI, ANI or Startup Portugal, and the tax authority reads “job” as an employment contract. No source we have read treats remote work for a foreign employer as an eligible activity in itself.
I am the founder and sole shareholder of a Portuguese company. Can I use IFICI?
Possibly, as its manager rather than as its owner. The tax authority says shareholders cannot benefit simply because they hold shares, but a sole shareholder who is also the manager (sócio-gerente) can be eligible as a member of a corporate body, provided a route applies and every other requirement is met. Expect the file to show a real activity: the Tribunal de Contas has flagged self-controlled employers as a risk.
I moved to Portugal in 2026. What is the deadline?
15 January 2027: the rule is 15 January of the year after you become resident (art. 2.º(1) Portaria 352/2024/1). The 31 March date some guides quote was a one-off for 2024 arrivals. If you miss the deadline you can still register, but the 20% then runs only from the year of registration, for what is left of the ten years.
Is my foreign income tax-free under IFICI?
Most of it. Foreign employment, business, investment, rental income and gains are exempt (art. 81.º(4) CIRS), with no requirement that they were taxed abroad, but they still count towards the rate on your other income. Foreign pensions are not exempt, and income paid from a blacklisted jurisdiction is taxed at 35%.
Can I combine IFICI with IRS Jovem or Programa Regressar?
No. Opting for Regressar excludes IFICI (art. 58.º-A(10)(b) EBF), and IRS Jovem is barred for anyone who benefits or has benefited from IFICI. Where someone qualifies for more than one, it is a choice, and it is worth modelling before registering.
Will my employer withhold at 20% from my first salary?
Once you show proof that the registration application was filed, the payer can apply 20% to monthly pay (art. 99.º(8) CIRS). Withholding is only a payment on account: if the application is refused, the income is taxed at the general rates when your IRS is assessed.
Does the 2027 State Budget change IFICI?
Not as submitted. We read the bill (Proposta de Lei 110/XVII/2.ª): it does not amend art. 58.º-A EBF or the foreign-income rule in art. 81.º CIRS, and the words “IFICI” and “residente não habitual” do not appear in it. It is still a proposal; the final vote is scheduled for 24 November 2026 and amendments can be added in committee.
Where each rule comes from
- EBF article 58-A, Portaria 352/2024/1 as amended, and the CIRS, as cited, in English in our law library.
- Ofício Circulado 20276/2025 — the AT’s guide and FAQs. AT consolidated text of art. 58-A.
- AICEP, FCT and Startup Portugal notices — routes (d), (a) and (f).
- DLR 8/2025/M, article 21 — the Madeira route, for residents of Madeira under art. 17.º CIRS.
- Tribunal de Contas, Parecer sobre a Conta Geral do Estado 2025, Caixa 9 — the statistics.
- Lei 73-A/2025 — the 2026 rate table. Lei 64-B/2026 — the rate-cut authorisation. Proposta de Lei 110/XVII/2.ª — the 2027 budget bill.
Open on 30 October 2026: whether the surcharge applies on top of the 20%; how “net income” is measured; the Madeira decree; whether the AT maps the lists to CAE Rev. 4; the 2026 rate-cut decree-law. We will update this page.
One application, filed before 15 January
Tell us when you became resident, what you do and who you work for. We confirm the route, prepare the IFICI application and its documents, coordinate with your employer and the verifying body, and set up payroll withholding at 20% from the month the application is filed. If the honest answer is that you do not qualify, you will hear that first.