Assessed and filed by an OCC-certified Portuguese accountant
IFICI eligibility and application in Portugal, handled by a certified accountant.
IFICI (sometimes called NHR 2.0) taxes qualifying Portuguese work income at a flat 20% for ten years and exempts most foreign income. Getting in depends on what you do and who you do it for, and the paperwork has hard dates on it. An OCC-certified Portuguese accountant goes through your case with you on a call, then tells you in writing whether you’re likely to qualify and under which route. If you do, they prepare your documents and submit your application on Portal das Finanças before the 15 January deadline.
Written verdict you keep · Application filed on Portal das Finanças · Followed through to the 31 March decision
★★★★★Rated by expats worldwide✓OCC-certified accountant✓Written verdict before you apply✓Filed before 15 January
Someone told you about IFICI. Nobody told you whether you qualify.
It came up at a dinner, or in a group chat, or on a webinar. Twenty percent flat, foreign income exempt, ten years. Then somebody said “you’ve got until January, right?” and you realised you don’t actually know if any of it applies to you. That’s the honest starting point for most people, and it’s a fair one. The rules are narrow, they’re about your role and your employer more than your CV, and the tax portal doesn’t tell you you’ve got it wrong. It just says no in March. So before anyone files anything, someone qualified should look at your actual situation and give you a straight answer.
A straight answer first
The assessment can come back "no, and here's why". We'd rather you heard that for €200 in November than paid for an application that gets refused in March.
The dates are handled
Application by 15 January, employer confirmation by 15 March where your route needs one, decision by 31 March. Your accountant works to those dates and tells you what's needed from you before each one.
The company and the application fit together
If your route runs through your own Portuguese company, the same accountant who chooses its activity codes is the one checking them against IFICI. You don't find out afterwards that the structure doesn't work.
First, a quick sanity check
Where are you with IFICI right now?
Most people start here
Eligibility assessment · €200
You don't know if you qualify
You're moving this year or just arrived, and you want to know whether IFICI applies, under which route, and what would have to change if it doesn't. A call and a written verdict from a certified accountant.
Check my eligibility →Application · €1,500
You know you qualify
Your assessment came back yes, or you already work in a qualifying role for an eligible employer. Your documents get prepared and checked, and the application is filed before 15 January. Had the assessment and it said yes? The €200 comes off, so you pay €1,300. Setting up a company isn't included.
Start my application →Tax Planning Report · from €269
You want the numbers first
You'd like to see what you'd pay with IFICI and without it, side by side, before deciding whether it's worth restructuring anything.
See the report →Still not sure which one you need? A free 15-minute call will sort it out.
The calendar
IFICI deadlines for 2026 and 2027.
IFICI runs on the tax year you become resident. Here’s how it plays out for someone who becomes resident in 2026.
1
31 December 2026
Your qualifying role, contract or company should be in place, and paying you, in the year you become resident. Each year's 20% applies to qualifying income earned in that year, so this is the date to plan around, not January.
2
15 January 2027
The application goes in on Portal das Finanças. Miss it and you can still apply later, but you lose the years you missed while the ten-year clock keeps running.
3
15 March 2027
On the export-company route, your employer confirms your role to the tax authority by this date. On the own-company route, IAPMEI checks the company's activity and reports by 15 February. Other routes are checked by their own body: Startup Portugal, FCT, AICEP or ANI.
4
31 March 2027
The tax authority tells you whether you're in. The certificate appears in your area on Portal das Finanças, and your accountant confirms it with you.
5
Every year after that
IFICI isn't a one-off. You keep it by keeping a qualifying activity. Change employer and you have six months to move into another qualifying one, reported by 15 January.
6
Becoming resident in 2027?
Then all of this moves a year on, and you have time to set things up properly. That's the best position to be in. Start with the assessment before you move.
If you became resident this year, November is the right time to start. Certifying bodies don’t speed up in January, and missing documents are the most common cause of delay.
How you probably got here
The usual ways people end up on this page.
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You moved in the spring. It's now autumn, and you've just found out there's a January deadline for something you assumed was automatic.
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You have a master's degree and fifteen years in tech. Surely that's enough? You've read three articles and they disagree.
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You work remotely for a company back home. Someone in a Facebook group said that counts. Someone else said it absolutely doesn't.
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You're opening a Portuguese company anyway, for the D2 or because it makes sense. Nobody has mentioned that the activity code you pick could decide your tax rate for ten years.
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Your new Portuguese employer says the company qualifies but your role doesn't. You'd like a second opinion from someone who isn't in HR.
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You think you qualify. You're fairly sure. You'd just like someone qualified to look at it before you file something with the tax authority in your own name.
None of this means you’ve missed something obvious. IFICI was designed for specific kinds of work, the criteria sit across a law, a ministerial order and several agencies’ lists, and the old NHR was simple enough that everyone still expects the new one to be. It isn’t. You shouldn’t have to become an expert in it to find out where you stand.
Where applications go wrong
Who qualifies for IFICI? Your structure, not your CV.
Most refusals come from details that could have been fixed before filing. These are the six things your accountant checks.
1
Who pays you, and from where
IFICI rewards work for entities in Portugal. A salary from a foreign employer with no Portuguese presence doesn't qualify on its own, and it's taxed here as normal income once you live here.
2
The employer's main activity code
The company you work for, or own, has to carry an eligible code as its main activity, and that activity has to bring in its revenue. An eligible secondary code isn't enough.
3
What you actually do
Your role has to sit on the qualifying list for your route. A vague job title on the contract is one of the most common reasons an application stalls.
4
Your qualifications, on paper
Some routes need a degree and years of experience in the same field. Others need less, depending on your role. Either way, the diploma has to be there and show its level clearly.
5
Pay for the qualifying role
You need Portuguese-source income from the role that qualifies you. An unpaid director's seat on an eligible company doesn't get you in.
6
A company that's really trading
A company set up only to qualify, with no clients and no activity, invites questions later. It doesn't need to be profitable on day one, but it does need clients and activity.
You shouldn’t need to know any of this before you start. Your accountant works through all six from your intake form and your documents. That’s what the assessment is for. A clear verdict on your case, with the reasons written down.
The scope
How much does an IFICI application cost?
Eligibility assessment · €200
Your intake form and documents reviewed by an OCC-certified Portuguese accountant, then a call to go through your case
Your residency timeline checked against the five-year rule and your deadlines
A written verdict: whether you qualify, under which route, and which body certifies it
If you don't qualify yet: what would have to change, and whether it's realistic before your deadline
The document list for your route, so step two starts ready
Application · €1,500
Your contract or the company's certidão permanente, and your diplomas, checked against your route
The employer declaration drafted for your employer to sign, where your route needs one
Your application submitted in your area of Portal das Finanças before 15 January
The employer confirmation tracked to 15 March on the export-company route
The outcome checked with you when the tax authority decides, by 31 March
Your NISS (Portuguese Social Security number), if you don't have one yet
What it doesn't cover
✕Setting up your company. That's company formation, from €970, and the codes get chosen with IFICI in mind
✕Modelling what you'd pay with and without IFICI. That's the Tax Planning Report, from €269
✕Your annual IRS return under IFICI. That's IRS Tax Filing, €349
✕Startup certification through an incubator and Startup Portugal
✕Changing your tax residency or your NIF address. If your NIF still shows a foreign address, start with the NIF address update, €79
The decision belongs to the tax authority and the certifying bodies. Your accountant gives you a professional opinion and files a complete, correct application. No one can promise the outcome, and you should be wary of anyone who does. The assessment and the application are separate orders, so you only commit to the second once the first has said yes, and the €200 you paid for the first comes off it, so the application costs you €1,300.
Does your route run through your own company? Budget for it separately.
The €1,500 covers the IFICI application only. Setting up the Portuguese company is a separate service, company formation from €970, with the activity codes chosen with IFICI in mind.
So on the company route, the usual total is €200 assessment + €970 company + €1,300 application = €2,470, because the €200 comes off the application when your assessment says you're likely to qualify. See company formation →
How it works
One form, one verdict, then the filing.
1
Tell us your situation
One form, in English. When you became or will become resident, who pays you and from which country, what you actually do, your qualifications, and whether there's a Portuguese company involved. Upload your contract and diplomas if you have them.
2
Talk it through, get your verdict
Your accountant reviews everything, goes through your case with you on a call, then writes up whether you're likely to qualify, under which route, and what's missing. Follow-up questions get answered in writing on your order thread.
3
Apply before 15 January
If the verdict is likely, order the application with the code from your report and the €200 comes off. Your accountant prepares the documents, files in your area of Portal das Finanças, and stays on the thread until the tax authority decides. You'll need working portal access with two-factor switched off.
If you're opening a Portuguese company
Pick the activity code with IFICI in mind, before the company exists.
For freelancers and remote workers, the realistic way into IFICI usually runs through their own Portuguese company, with you as its paid manager (gerente). The company’s main activity code has to be on IAPMEI’s list of eligible activities. IT and software, engineering and R&D are on it. Management consultancy isn’t, and an eligible code that’s only secondary doesn’t count. This route has no export test.
Only your pay as gerente, through Portuguese payroll, gets the 20%. Dividends from your own company don’t. Activity codes are hard to change once the company is registered, so they get checked first. Our company formation service already has the same OCC-certified accountant choosing your codes, so tell us at the start that IFICI matters to you. The codes still have to describe the business you actually run. The assessment checks whether that business fits.
Order the assessment first. If your route runs through a company, your verdict will say so, and your company formation and application can follow from it.
Before you pay us: three questions that rule people out.
One. Were you a Portuguese tax resident at any point in the last five years? If yes, IFICI isn’t open to you. That includes people who were registered as resident by accident, often through a property deed or an old address on their NIF. If that might be you, start with a tax consultation to check what your record actually shows.
Two. Have you ever had NHR, or opted into Programa Regressar? If you did, you can’t apply for IFICI. If you still have NHR years left, they carry on under NHR. Under 35? IRS Jovem doesn’t rule you out, but the two don’t combine. Once you’ve had IFICI, IRS Jovem is closed to you, so your accountant weighs which one is worth more.
Three. Is your income mainly a pension, or investments with no work behind them? IFICI’s flat rate is for work income from a qualifying activity, and foreign pensions are taxed at normal rates under it. If that’s your situation, a Tax Planning Report will show you what you’d actually pay, which is more useful to you than this service.
Not sure on any of these? Book the free 15-minute call and find out where you stand before you spend anything. Book the free call →
What's at stake
What IFICI changes: the 20% rate and foreign income.
The headline numbers, with the conditions people leave out.
20% on qualifying Portuguese income
Employment or self-employment income from the qualifying activity is taxed at a flat 20%, where normal rates climb to 48% plus surcharges. Social security still applies on top. Other Portuguese income is taxed normally.
Most foreign income exempt
Foreign dividends, interest, rent, capital gains and work income are exempt in Portugal, except pensions and income from listed tax havens. You still declare it on your return, and it still counts when your other income's tax rate is worked out.
Ten years, once in a lifetime
The ten years run from the year you become resident, whether or not you're enrolled for all of them. It's granted to you as an individual, so a spouse needs their own qualifying activity, and you can only ever have it once.
These are the general rules for everyone. Your assessment says how they apply to you, and if you want the euro figures, the Tax Planning Report puts both scenarios side by side.
Who's actually looking at your case.
One OCC-certified Portuguese accountant from our partner network handles your assessment and your application, and appears on your order thread under their own name from the first message. OCC certification means they’re registered with the Ordem dos Contabilistas Certificados, Portugal’s professional body for accountants, with a registration number and professional standards enforced by that body.
Their reasoning goes into your written verdict, so you can see why your route was chosen, or why it wasn’t. And if something on your application isn’t right, you say so on the thread and it gets put right before anything is filed.
What clients say
In their words.
★★★★★
"Incredibly helpful consultation. I got insights on personal taxes as well as taxation for freelancers and businesses. My accountant even followed up with extra materials for me to dive deeper. 100% recommend!"Elisabeth S.
★★★★★
"So easy to deal with and great at responding to all emails and questions. I would recommend Novomove to everyone looking to get all the documents they need to really enjoy life here in lovely Portugal."Denise Clarke
★★★★★
"The platform is great for document submission and the whole service was excellent. I highly recommend working with Novomove."Ismael D.
Before, and after
What usually comes before IFICI, and what comes after.
Portuguese company
From €970The usual route in for freelancers and remote workers. Your activity codes get chosen by the same certified accountant, with IFICI in mind from the start.
Company formation →Tax Planning Report
From €269Your Portuguese tax calculated with IFICI and without it, side by side, so you know whether restructuring is worth it.
See the report →Tax consultation
€9945 minutes with an OCC-certified accountant for the questions that come before IFICI: residency dates, an accidental registration, a spouse's income.
Book a call →NIF address update
€79Your NIF still shows a foreign address. Becoming resident on paper is the step that starts your IFICI year.
Update my address →IRS Tax Filing
€349Your annual return under IFICI, prepared and filed by an OCC-certified accountant. Exempt income still has to be declared, every year.
See filing →Portuguese NIF
€79Don't have one yet? Everything else hangs off it, and you can get it from abroad before you move.
Get your NIF →FAQ
Questions people ask.
No. NHR closed to new applicants in 2024, and people who already have it keep their remaining years. IFICI replaced it for new arrivals, and it’s much narrower: NHR was about being a new resident, IFICI is about the work you do and who you do it for. Pensioners were the biggest winners under NHR and are mostly outside IFICI. Our IFICI guide explains the regime in full.
Not through that job on its own. Every route needs an entity based in Portugal, and a foreign salary for work you do while living here is taxed in Portugal as normal income. There can be other ways in, through a Portuguese subsidiary, a Portuguese employer or your own company. The assessment looks at whether any of them fit your case.
Possibly, through the company route: a Portuguese company in an eligible activity, with you as its paid gerente. The visa and the tax regime are decided by different authorities, so the two have to fit together. On a D8, keep your clients abroad and keep their contracts and invoices, because the renewal looks at who you work for, and make sure your gerente salary plus any other income still meets the D8 income test. On a D7, gerente pay is work income and the D7 is built on passive income, so keep your passive income above the D7 threshold on its own. Book the free 15-minute call before you form the company.
Not as a plain freelancer on recibos verdes: none of the routes covers that setup. Workable cases run through a Portuguese company with an eligible main activity, you in a paid role, and real clients. If you haven’t opened anything yet, that’s good news: order the assessment before you register a freelance activity or a company, so the structure gets decided once.
Qualifications matter on some routes, but they’re never enough on their own. The role has to be on the qualifying list and the entity has to be eligible. Someone with a PhD in the wrong structure doesn’t qualify, and someone with a shorter qualification in the right role at the right entity can.
Then you’ve found out before paying for an application, and you have it in writing. Your verdict says what would have to change for you to qualify, and whether that’s realistic before your deadline. Sometimes the honest answer is that IFICI isn’t for you, and a Tax Planning Report on the normal regime is the better next step.
Yes, when you go ahead. If your assessment finds you likely to qualify, the report includes a code that takes the €200 off the application. If the answer is no, you’ve found out for €200 before spending €1,500.
No, and nobody honestly can. The tax authority decides, together with the body that certifies your route. What your accountant can do is check your case properly before filing and send a complete, correct application, which is where most refusals are avoided.
No. You’ve missed the 15 January deadline, but you can still register. The 20% then runs from the year you file, and the ten years still count from the year you became resident, so file as soon as you can. If you’re not sure you qualify, order the assessment first.
You keep IFICI as long as you’re doing a qualifying activity. If you move between qualifying roles, you have six months to start the new one, and the change has to be reported by 15 January of the following year. A new employer or a new certifying body can mean a fresh application. If more than six months pass without a qualifying activity, you lose that year’s benefit, not the regime.
To apply, you need to be a Portuguese tax resident. To get the assessment, no. In fact the best time to do it is before you move, while the structure can still be set up around the rules instead of the other way round.
No. We coordinate. Your assessment and your application are carried out by an OCC-certified Portuguese accountant from our partner network, and the professional engagement sits between you and that accountant. We handle the platform, the form, the order thread, and the chasing.
Find out where you stand while there's still time to act on it.
One form and one call. A certified accountant tells you in writing whether you qualify for IFICI, under which route, and what’s missing if you don’t. If the answer is yes, your application goes in before 15 January.
Already know you qualify? Go straight to the application.