IFICI Portugal Tax Regime for New Residents: Americans, Britons

The IFICI, Incentivo Fiscal à Investigação Científica e Inovação, is a Portuguese income tax regime that taxes qualifying work income earned in Portugal at a special 20% rate for 10 consecutive years. The tax authority describes it as a regime to attract talent and encourage research and innovation, open to Portuguese or foreign citizens, so an American or a Briton qualifies on the same terms as anyone else if the job and the employer fit the list.

This guide is an overview of what the Portal das Finanças pages and the tax authority’s circular say on the day we read them. It is not tax advice, and the competent entity and the tax authority decide each request. Residence and work rights are separate questions: see working in Portugal as an American or a Briton for the routes, and do Americans still file US taxes from Portugal for the US side, which this guide does not cover.

What is the IFICI?

The tax authority’s leaflet says the IFICI was created by article 58.º-A of the Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais (EBF) and sets up “um regime de benefícios fiscais em sede de IRS” to attract talent and encourage scientific research and innovation in Portugal. The tax authority’s circular of 26 February 2025 says article 263 of Law 82/2023 of 29 December, the 2024 State Budget law, added article 58.º-A to the EBF.

How is income taxed under the IFICI?

The leaflet and the FAQ give these rules.

Employers that pay category A or B income from the qualifying activity must withhold 20% when you show proof that you submitted your registration request. The leaflet adds that this withholding is only a payment on account: if the registration is not approved, the income is taxed at the general IRS rates when your tax is assessed. People registered must also file Annex L with the Modelo 3 return to declare income under the regime and their chosen taxation option.

Who can register for the IFICI?

The leaflet lists these general conditions. You must:

• become tax resident in Portugal in the year from which you want the IFICI to start, under the criteria of article 16 of the IRS Code
• not have been considered resident in Portugal in any of the five years immediately before
• carry out an activity, profession or job that fits one of the paragraphs of article 58.º-A(1) of the EBF
• be considered tax resident in Portugal at some point in every year the regime applies
• earn income from an eligible activity in every year the regime applies
• not benefit, and not have benefited, from the non-habitual resident regime
• not have opted for taxation under article 12.º-A of the IRS Code (the Programa Regressar regime for former residents)
• not have benefited from the IFICI before

A footnote in the leaflet adds that anyone who benefits or has benefited from the IFICI from 2025 onward cannot benefit from the “IRS Jovem” regime of article 12.º-B of the IRS Code. The leaflet also says the regime does not apply to income from jobs covered by article 22(2)(c) of the Investment Tax Code (CFI).

A break does not end the right for good. The leaflet says that if you did not use the regime in one or more of the 10 years, you can resume in any remaining year if you again count as an IRS resident and again earn income from the listed activities. The FAQ gives an example: someone who used the IFICI from 2024 to 2028, lived elsewhere in 2029 and became resident again in 2030 can resume it for the four remaining years, 2030 to 2033. If you change employers, the leaflet says the right continues as long as the new activity starts within six months of the end of the previous one.

Which jobs and employers qualify?

The regime depends on the activity and on the entity where it is carried out. The leaflet sets out each paragraph of article 58.º-A(1), and the entity that checks the activity differs by paragraph.

For paragraph (c), the leaflet says the highly qualified professions are those under certain codes of the Portuguese classification of professions (including general and executive managers, directors of production and specialized services, science and engineering specialists, doctors, university professors and information and communication technology specialists), and the person must hold a doctorate, or a bachelor’s or master’s degree plus at least three years of documented professional experience. Directors and managers of companies are also covered. The FAQ and the leaflet list the exact codes and the CAE activity codes; check them against your job.

Some points from the FAQ:

• A “job” under paragraphs (a), (b), (d), (f) and (g) necessarily implies an employment contract, so a service contract with an AICEP-recognized company does not qualify.
• Partners of a company cannot benefit in that capacity, but the FAQ says managing partners of single-member companies, as members of a governing body, can if they meet the other conditions.
• A university professor teaching under a service contract can qualify under paragraph (a).
• For a regulated profession, the leaflet says that whatever the activity, you must also meet the legislation that governs the profession.

How and when do I register?

The leaflet says the registration request is filed on the Portal das Finanças, under Cidadãos, Serviços, Benefícios Fiscais, Inscrição no IFICI, Entregar Pedido, whatever the activity, by 15 January of the year after the year you become resident in Portugal.

The leaflet’s example: a person who became resident in 2025 and meets all the conditions but only files on 10 January 2029 can benefit for six of the ten years, from 2029 to 2034, the year the ten years would have ended had they filed by 15 January 2026.

Special deadlines applied to those who became resident in 2024 (request by 31 March 2025). For those who became resident in 2025, the FAQ gives a request deadline of 15 January 2026. For someone who becomes resident in 2026, applying the leaflet’s general rule (15 January of the following year) gives 15 January 2027; no page we read states that date for 2026 in so many words.

If one activity is checked by one entity and another by a different entity, the leaflet says to file a separate request for each activity. You and the employer must keep the supporting documents; the FAQ says entities where the activity is carried out must keep the relevant documents for 10 years, and the tax authority can ask for them.

What happened to the non-habitual resident regime?

The tax authority’s circular of 16 February 2024 says article 317(b) of Law 82/2023 repealed the non-habitual resident (NHR) regime from 1 January 2024, and that article 236 of the same law keeps it for some people. According to the circular, the NHR regime still applies to a taxpayer who:

• was already registered as NHR on 1 January 2024
• met the tax residence conditions on 31 December 2023 and applied by 31 March 2024
• becomes tax resident by 31 December 2024 and applies by 31 March 2025, declaring one of the listed elements (such as a promise or contract of employment signed by 31 December 2023, a lease or reservation contract signed by 10 October 2023, or a residence visa or permit valid by 31 December 2023)
• is a member of the household of a taxpayer in the cases above

Anyone who benefits or benefited from the NHR cannot use the IFICI. The circular describes the transition only for the cases above, the last of which concerns people who become resident by 31 December 2024.

Has the law changed since?

Article 58.º-A has been in force since 1 January 2024 with no later amendment noted on diariodarepublica.pt. The tax authority’s leaflet is dated March 2025, and its circular on the IFICI is dated 26 February 2025. The FAQ page carries no date but gives deadlines for people who became resident in 2025, running to 31 March 2026. We also searched the 2026 State Budget law (Law 73-A/2025 of 30 December), in the copy published by the budget office, for article 58.º-A and the word IFICI and found neither. Its article 73 amends only articles 19.º-B and 36.º-A of the EBF.

We read the consolidated text of the Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais on diariodarepublica.pt, in the consolidated version available on 18 October 2026. Article 58.º-A there states the same core rules as the leaflet: a special 20% IRS rate on net category A and B income from the listed activities, for 10 consecutive years from the year of registration as a resident (paragraph 2), the right depending on tax residence and on earning qualifying income each year (paragraph 3), a gap of up to six months between activities (paragraph 4), the right to resume in a remaining year (paragraph 5), a late registration that takes effect from the year it is made and runs for the remaining period (paragraph 7), exclusion of anyone who has opted for the regime of article 12.º-A of the IRS Code (paragraph 10) and a regime that can be used only once by the same taxpayer (paragraph 12). The page’s amendment note under the article lists only its addition by article 263 of Law 82/2023 of 29 December 2023, in force from 1 January 2024, and no later amendment of article 58.º-A. We did not read Portaria 352/2024/1 or Portaria 52-A/2025/1 on that site.

What this guide does not cover

How Portuguese tax residence is defined, how the US or the UK treats income taxed under the IFICI, and how to arrange the visa and the job are separate subjects. For the first steps after you arrive, including the tax number, see how to get a Portuguese NIF and your first year settling in. For the work routes, see the employee work visa. For the rules on a foreign salary, see remote work for a foreign employer: tax and social security; for pay under an employment contract, see working as an employee.

More guides on this site: Portuguese tax residence; how foreign pensions are taxed in Portugal.

Date of the information

The tax authority’s IFICI leaflet is dated March 2025 and its circular 26 February 2025. The NHR circular is dated 16 February 2024. The FAQ page and the budget law copy were read on 18 October 2026; the FAQ has no date of its own. This guide’s update date is its publication date because the latest dated information we can date is from March 2025; the FAQ gives deadlines running to 31 March 2026 but shows no date of its own. Rules and notices can change, so check the Portal das Finanças before you register.

Official pages read for this guide: the IFICI leaflet and the IFICI FAQ of the Portal das Finanças, the tax authority’s Ofício Circulado 20276/2025 on article 58.º-A, its Ofício Circulado 90068/2024 on the end of the NHR regime, and the 2026 State Budget law as published by the budget office, and the consolidated Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais on diariodarepublica.pt. All were read on 18 October 2026.