{"id":20359,"date":"2026-03-06T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/?post_type=publicacion&#038;p=20359"},"modified":"2026-03-05T11:55:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T10:55:23","slug":"end-of-the-nhr-portugal-tax-alternatives","status":"publish","type":"publicacion","link":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/publicacion\/end-of-the-nhr-portugal-tax-alternatives\/","title":{"rendered":"The End of the NHR Regime in Portugal: Are There Still Tax Alternatives in 2026?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>The End of the NHR: What Has Actually Changed?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The 2024 State Budget determined the end of the Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) regime in Portugal. Created in 2009, this special tax regime was, for more than a decade, one of the main instruments used to attract foreign investment and highly qualified professionals.<\/p>\n<p>For more than a decade, the NHR regime allowed:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>20% taxation on qualifying employment income<\/li>\n<li>Exemption or reduced taxation on certain foreign-source income<\/li>\n<li>A regime with a 10-year duration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, its revocation reflected political and social concerns related to tax fairness and its impact on the housing market.<\/p>\n<p>It is important, however, to clarify the following:<\/p>\n<p>Taxpayers who were already registered under the NHR regime retain the right to apply the regime until the end of the originally granted 10-year period.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Is There a New Regime in Portugal? The IFICI (NHR 2.0)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>With the end of the NHR regime, Portugal introduced the Tax Incentive for Scientific Research and Innovation (IFICI), often referred to as \u201cNHR 2.0.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This regime:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Applies to highly qualified professionals in scientific, technological and innovation sectors<\/li>\n<li>Requires employment or activity within certified entities or strategic sectors<\/li>\n<li>Provides for a special 20% tax rate on employment and self-employment income<\/li>\n<li>Has a duration of 10 years<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, unlike the former NHR regime, IFICI is considerably more restrictive regarding the types of eligible activities.<\/p>\n<p>It is not a general regime designed to attract residents with high levels of passive income, but rather a targeted instrument aimed at highly qualified talent in specific sectors.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, for investors, pensioners or individuals with significant capital income, the new Portuguese regime may not represent an equivalent alternative.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Spain\u2019s Beckham Law: A Viable Alternative?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In Spain, a special regime for inbound workers, commonly known as the Beckham Law, remains in force.<\/p>\n<p>This regime was significantly amended by the Startup Law (2023), making it once again a competitive option.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Main Features of the Beckham Law (2026)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Duration: 6 years<\/li>\n<li>Flat 24% tax rate up to \u20ac600,000<\/li>\n<li>47% on income exceeding this threshold (current rate)<\/li>\n<li>Taxation generally limited to Spanish-source income<\/li>\n<li>No Wealth Tax liability on assets located outside Spain<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Who Can Benefit?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Following recent amendments, the regime may apply to:<\/li>\n<li>Employees<\/li>\n<li>Directors (provided they do not hold a significant shareholding)<\/li>\n<li>Entrepreneurs<\/li>\n<li>Remote workers (digital nomads)<\/li>\n<li>Highly qualified professionals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Main Requirements<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Not having been tax resident in Spain during the previous 5 years (reduced from the previous 10 years)<\/li>\n<li>Effective relocation of tax residence to Spain<\/li>\n<li>Application submitted within the legal deadline after the start of the activity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Comparison: NHR (Former), IFICI and Beckham Law<\/strong><\/h2>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Feature<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>NHR (repealed)<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>IFICI<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Beckham Law<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Duration<\/td>\n<td>10 years<\/td>\n<td>10 years<\/td>\n<td>6 years<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Tax rate on employment income<\/td>\n<td>20%<\/td>\n<td>20%<\/td>\n<td>24% up to \u20ac600k<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Foreign income<\/td>\n<td>Favourable regime<\/td>\n<td>More limited<\/td>\n<td>Generally excluded<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Focus<\/td>\n<td>Broad attraction<\/td>\n<td>Scientific talent<\/td>\n<td>Inbound workers<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><strong>Could Spain Be More Advantageous Than Portugal?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It depends on the taxpayer\u2019s profile.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Beckham Law may be particularly attractive for:<\/li>\n<li>Executives with high levels of income<\/li>\n<li>Technology entrepreneurs<\/li>\n<li>Remote workers<\/li>\n<li>Relocated directors<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Portuguese IFICI regime, on the other hand, may be more suitable for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Researchers<\/li>\n<li>Engineers<\/li>\n<li>Professionals linked to certified innovation centres<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A comparative analysis should always take into account:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Double Taxation Treaties<\/li>\n<li>Social Security regimes<\/li>\n<li>Taxation of dividends and capital gains<\/li>\n<li>Wealth taxation<\/li>\n<li>Estate and succession planning<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Conclusion: A Foreseen End or a Strategic Transition?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The end of the NHR regime did not represent the end of Iberian tax competitiveness, but rather a reconfiguration of the model used to attract talent and investment.<\/p>\n<p>Portugal maintains selective instruments such as IFICI, while Spain has strengthened the Beckham Law with broader scope.<\/p>\n<p>Choosing the appropriate country of tax residence now requires a thorough, personalised and integrated technical analysis, considering not only nominal tax rates but also the overall tax framework applicable to the individual taxpayer.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How We Can Help<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/areas-de-practica\/derecho-fiscal-y-tributario\/abogados-fiscal-tributario-lisboa-oporto-portugal\/\">Tax Law Department<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/\">Belzuz Abogados, S.L.P.<\/a> \u2013 Branch in Portugal regularly assists clients with tax residence relocation processes between Portugal and Spain, as well as with the application of the IFICI regime and the Beckham Law.<\/p>\n<p>Decisions of this nature require prior planning, analysis of the applicable international tax treaties and comparative modelling of tax scenarios.<\/p>\n<p>We remain fully available to provide specialised technical advice in this area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12436,"template":"","categories":[],"area-de-practica":[223],"publicaciones":[122],"idioma-publicacion":[71],"class_list":["post-20359","publicacion","type-publicacion","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","area-de-practica-fiscal-and-tax-law","publicaciones-miguel-paixao","idioma-publicacion-ingles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publicacion\/20359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publicacion"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/publicacion"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20359"},{"taxonomy":"area-de-practica","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/area-de-practica?post=20359"},{"taxonomy":"publicaciones","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publicaciones?post=20359"},{"taxonomy":"idioma-publicacion","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/idioma-publicacion?post=20359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}