Moving from the UK to Portugal after NHR
This corridor has been sold for a decade on Non-Habitual Resident status. NHR is gone. The replacement, IFICI, is a narrow employment-income regime, and foreign pensions — the reason most UK movers came — are now taxed at standard progressive rates.
What IFICI actually covers
IFICI gives a flat 20% on Portuguese employment and self-employment income, but only for qualifying roles: higher education, research, R&D recognised by FCT, AICEP or IAPMEI, and innovation or startup jobs. Foreign investment and rental income are mostly exempt.
It runs 10 years. You must not have been resident in Portugal in the prior 5 years, nor have previously used NHR or IFICI, and you must register by 15 January.
If you are a retired UK investor rather than a researcher or startup hire, IFICI will not apply to you at all.
The default Portuguese position is high
Progressive rates reach 48% above EUR 86,634, with a solidarity surcharge of 2.5% between EUR 80,000 and EUR 250,000 and 5% above EUR 250,000 — an effective top marginal of about 53%.
No personal saving or increase can be established from those headline rates alone. A comparison needs consistent income categories, currencies, deductions, applicable regimes and tax years.
The Golden Visa lost its property route
Real estate no longer qualifies. Current routes are EUR 500,000 into a qualifying fund, EUR 500,000 into a business creating five jobs, or a EUR 250,000 cultural donation (EUR 200,000 in low-density areas).
Before you move
- Any adviser still offering NHR or a 10% pension rate is working from dead material.
- Capital gains on financial assets are 28%; real estate is 50% of the gain at progressive rates; tax-haven gains are 35%.
- There is no wealth tax, and stamp duty on inheritance is 10% with spouses, descendants and ascendants exempt — the estate side is genuinely mild.
Continue your research
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Tax rates are only the first screen. Residency, ownership, treaty position and succession can change the outcome.
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