Tax
IFICI in Portugal: the complete guide to NHR 2.0
Everything you need to know about Portugal's tax incentive for scientific research and innovation: legal framework, qualifying activities, tax benefits, foreign income exemptions, application process, and deadlines.
1. What is IFICI?
IFICI is the tax regime that replaced Portugal's Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) programme. If you become a Portuguese tax resident and work in a qualifying activity, it taxes the income from that work at a flat 20% for ten years, and most of your foreign income isn't taxed in Portugal at all.
The full name is Incentivo Fiscal à Investigação Científica e Inovação. It was created by the 2024 State Budget Law (Lei n.º 82/2023, 29 December), which added Article 58-A to the Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais (EBF), Portugal's Tax Benefits Statute, and it has applied since 1 January 2024.
IFICI is narrower than NHR on purpose. NHR was open to retirees, investors and a long list of professionals. IFICI is aimed at people who work in Portugal in activities the State wants to grow: scientific research, innovation, technology, certified startups and a defined list of industrial and service sectors.
The detailed rules are in Ordinance 352/2024/1 (23 December 2024), later amended by Ordinance 52-A/2025/1 (25 February 2025). They set out the eligible professions, the eligible CAE codes for companies and the registration procedure with each government agency.
Key legislation:
Article 58-A of the Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais (EBF)
Ordinance 352/2024/1, 23 December 2024
Ordinance 52-A/2025/1, 25 February 2025
Despacho 2416-A/2025, 20 February (official registration form)
Ofício Circulado 20276, 26 February 2025 (Tax Authority guidance)
Avisos 4812/2025 and 5309/2025 (IAPMEI / AICEP: qualified professions and relevant activities)
2. Who qualifies for IFICI?
Under Article 58-A(1) of the EBF, read together with Article 16(1) and (2) of the Portuguese Income Tax Code (CIRS), individuals must meet all of the following conditions:
Become a Portuguese tax resident: under Article 16 CIRS, this usually means spending more than 183 days in Portugal in a calendar year, or keeping a home here in a way that shows you intend to stay.
Carry out a qualifying activity: you need to earn income every year from one of the activities in sub-paragraphs (a) to (g) of Article 58-A(1), which can include working through your own company (see section 4). A gap of up to six months between qualifying activities is allowed.
Register on time: you apply through the Portal das Finanças by 15 January of the year after the one in which you become tax resident. You can register late, but you lose part of the ten-year period.
3. The seven qualifying pathways
Article 58-A(1) of the EBF defines seven categories of eligible activities, each verified by a different government agency.
a) Higher education and scientific research: university teaching and scientific jobs in entities within the national science and technology system, including technology and innovation centres recognised under Decree-Law 126-B/2021. Checked by FCT.
b) Contractual investment benefits: qualified jobs and board members in projects that benefit from contractual investment incentives under Chapter II of the Tax Investment Code (Código Fiscal do Investimento). Checked by AICEP.
c) Highly qualified professions: professionals listed in Annex I of Ordinance 352/2024 who work in companies with RFAI-eligible investments, or in companies whose CAE code is on the Annex II list of eligible sectors. The company can be your own (see section 4). Checked by the AT, IAPMEI and AICEP.
d) Economically Relevant Activities. Positions in entities whose activities are recognised by AICEP or IAPMEI as relevant to the national economy, including attracting productive investment and reducing regional asymmetries. Verified by AICEP (turnover ≥ €75M) or IAPMEI (below €75M).
e) R&D staff (SIFIDE): staff whose costs are eligible under SIFIDE, the tax incentive scheme for business R&D, as defined in Article 37(1)(b) of the Tax Investment Code. Checked by ANI.
f) Certified startups: employees and board members of companies certified as startups under the Startup Statute (Law 21/2023, 25 May). Checked by Startup Portugal.
g) Azores and Madeira: jobs and activities carried out by tax residents of the Azores and Madeira, under terms to be set by regional legislation. Checked by the Regional Governments.
4. Qualifying through your own company
Pathway (c) doesn't require you to work for someone else. If you work in one of the eligible sectors, you can set up your own Portuguese company in that sector and run it as its managing director (gerente), and the income the company pays you qualifies for IFICI.
This is the route for remote workers and freelancers. If you work for a foreign employer, or you invoice foreign clients in your own name, you don't qualify as things stand, because there's no Portuguese company behind your income for an agency to check. Once the work runs through your own company, there is.
What has to be in place:
a) Eligible sector: the company's CAE code is on the Annex II list of Ordinance 352/2024.
b) Your role: you're the company's managing director (gerente), which is one of the highly qualified professions in Annex I.
c) Your qualification: EQF level 5 or higher.
d) Your tax residency: you're a Portuguese tax resident and weren't one in any of the previous five years.
5. The IFICI tax benefit
The core benefit is a flat 20% tax rate on net employment income (Category A) and self-employment income (Category B) earned from qualifying activities, for a period of 10 consecutive years from the date the individual first becomes a Portuguese tax resident.
Without IFICI, that income is taxed on the progressive IRS scale, which reaches 48% at the top band. On top of that there's a solidarity surcharge of 2.5% on taxable income between €80,000 and €250,000 and 5% above €250,000, so the top marginal rate in the standard regime reaches 53%.
The 20% rate can be applied at source. Your employer, or your own company, can withhold at the special rate once you present proof of your IFICI registration application. Any income that doesn't come from the qualifying activity stays on the standard progressive rates.
6. Treatment of foreign-sourced income
As a general rule, foreign income isn't taxed in Portugal under IFICI. It's exempt through the exemption method, the standard way of avoiding double taxation, and this applies to employment income (Category A), self-employment income (Category B), investment income (Category E), rental income (Category F) and capital gains (Category G).
The key condition for the exemption is that the income may be taxed in the source country under a double tax treaty (DTT). Portugal has DTTs with over 80 jurisdictions, so in practice the exemption is widely available. It covers dividends, interest, royalties, rental income and capital gains from most treaty countries.
The exemption comes with progressivity (isenção com progressividade). Your foreign income isn't taxed, but it's taken into account when working out the rate on any Portuguese income you have on the progressive scale. Under the old NHR, the exemption generally worked as a full exemption, without this effect.
Income from blacklisted jurisdictions (listed in Ordinance 150/2004) does not benefit from the exemption and is instead subject to a standalone tax rate of 35%.
7. How to apply for IFICI
The registration application is submitted through the Portal das Finanças, using the official form approved by Despacho 2416-A/2025. Verification is split between the Tax Authority (residency requirements) and the competent agency for each qualifying pathway.
Obtain a NIF and establish tax residency. Register as a Portuguese tax resident. This means obtaining a NIF (tax identification number) and updating your tax address on the Portal das Finanças to a Portuguese address.
Start a qualifying activity: sign an employment contract, incorporate a company in an eligible sector and take up its management, take up a board position, or start scientific research in an eligible entity. The activity has to be in place before you apply.
Gather your documents: your employment contract (if you're an employee), a current commercial registry certificate (if you're a board member or run your own company), your grant contract (if you're a researcher), proof of your academic qualifications and a declaration from the employer confirming that the IFICI requirements are met.
Submit your application on the Portal das Finanças. Navigate to Services, Tax Benefits, IFICI Registration, Submit Request. Complete the official form and upload the required documentation within the applicable deadline.
Verification by the competent agency. The relevant agency (FCT, AICEP, IAPMEI, ANI, or Startup Portugal) reviews whether your activity meets the requirements. If documents are missing, you'll be notified and given 10 business days to respond.
Confirmation by the Tax Authority: the AT publishes the registration status by 31 March each year, and a confirmation document appears in your personal area on the Portal das Finanças.
8. Registration deadlines
The standard deadline is 15 January of the year following the year in which the individual becomes a Portuguese tax resident. Late registration is possible under Article 58-A(7), but the benefit will only take effect from the year of registration and will last for the remaining period of the 10-year window.
9. NHR vs IFICI: key differences
10. Frequently asked questions