IFICI — tax incentive for scientific research and innovation
Portugal taxes qualifying employment and self-employment income at a flat 20% for people who move there to work in research, higher education, innovation or a handful of other recognised categories — for ten years, with no published income cap. It replaced the Non-Habitual Resident regime for anyone becoming a tax resident from 2024 onward.
Parameters by year
| Year | Tax-free share | Above the cap | Minimum income | Reduced minimum | Maximum duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 20% | — | Not published yet | Not published yet | 10 years |
What changes
- 2026
- The 20% rate applies to qualifying Category A (employment) and Category B (self-employment) income from an eligible activity — it does not cover all of your income. There is no published income cap: unlike Spain's Beckham Law, the 20% rate applies without an upper ceiling switching to a higher rate. IFICI replaced the Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) regime for new tax residents from 1 January 2024.
Who qualifies
- You must not have been a tax resident in Portugal in any of the five years before the move.
- Your income must come from one of a defined set of activities: certified startups, scientific research and higher education roles, qualified positions in companies with recognised investment or R&D projects, and a published list of highly qualified professions.
- You must register with the tax authority by 15 January of the year following the one in which you became resident.
- The regime runs for ten consecutive years from the first year it applies — it is not renewable.
Sources
- 01Portaria n.º 352/2024/1 — regulamentação do IFICI (Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais, artigo 58.º-A)Diário da República ·
Every figure here comes from an official source and carries the date we checked it. How we work with data.
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