Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) / IFICI is Portugal's preferential tax regime for people who become Portuguese tax residents without having lived there in the previous five years. The original NHR scheme closed to new entrants at the end of 2023 (with limited transitional grandfathering into 2024). It was replaced by IFICI (Incentivo Fiscal a Investigacao Cientifica e Inovacao), widely nicknamed "NHR 2.0", which applies from 2024 onward.
Under IFICI, qualifying Portuguese-source employment and self-employment income from eligible high-value activities (scientific research, higher education, technology and innovation roles, certified startups, and export-oriented companies) is taxed at a 20% flat rate for up to ten years, instead of progressive rates that reach 48%. Many categories of foreign-source income can also be exempt.
Example: An engineer earning EUR 90,000 at a qualifying Portuguese tech firm pays roughly EUR 18,000 under the 20% IFICI rate. Under standard progressive brackets the bill would exceed EUR 30,000, a saving of over EUR 12,000 per year.
Eligibility is strict: you must be a new resident, hold a qualifying role, and register with the tax authorities. If your income falls outside the incentive, see how ordinary Portuguese rules apply with our Portugal simplified regime calculator. Compare related concepts in our tax residency and flat tax entries.