MOVING FROM → TO
Moving from Spain to Portugal
Both countries built a special tax regime to attract exactly this kind of move, and the two regimes work on different principles — one has a ceiling that changes the rate, the other has none.
Enter the salary from your offer to compare all countries at once.
The comparison runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, stored or logged. It compares your figure with published thresholds and rates — it is not a tax calculation and not advice.
No visa, if you hold an EU or EEA passport
Spain and Portugal are both in the EU. Under free movement there is no work permit, no salary threshold, no sponsor — none of the machinery that fills our other corridor pages applies here.
For non-EU nationals, neither country publishes a salary figure for its highly qualified worker route that we would stand behind: Spain's Highly Qualified Professional threshold is set by the criteria of the Unidad de Grandes Empresas rather than in the law, and Portugal's EU Blue Card threshold is a legal formula (1.5x the national average salary) whose current euro value is quoted inconsistently across sources. That is why this site has no visa page for either country.
Two regimes, two different shapes
Spain's Beckham Law taxes employment income at a flat 24% up to €600,000, then 47% above it — the ceiling switches the rate, it does not end the regime. Portugal's IFICI applies a flat 20% with no published ceiling at all: every euro of qualifying income is taxed at the same rate, however much you earn.
At most income levels Portugal's 20% is simply lower than Spain's 24%. Above €600,000 the comparison is not close: Spain jumps to 47%, Portugal stays at 20%. That gap is the entire reason high earners in this exact situation ask about this move.
What actually decides which regime you can use
Both regimes share a five-year non-residence condition, so someone leaving Spain for Portugal typically clears it the same way someone leaving the Netherlands for Spain does. Where they diverge is eligibility for the ACTIVITY, not the person: Beckham covers ordinary employment and posted workers broadly, while IFICI is restricted to a defined list — certified startups, scientific research, higher education, and a published catalogue of highly qualified professions. A move that qualified easily for Beckham can fail IFICI's narrower activity test entirely.
What to check before you sign
Whether your specific job and employer appear on IFICI's eligible list before you assume the 20% rate applies — unlike Spain's regime, Portugal's is not open to any employment contract that clears a residence test.
Both countries in detail
Spain
Portugal
This page is information, not advice. We are not an employer, a recruitment agency, a visa centre or an immigration adviser, and we are not affiliated with any government body. Rules change — confirm against the official source before you act.