{"id":21025,"date":"2026-04-16T10:34:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T09:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/?post_type=publicacion&p=21025"},"modified":"2026-04-16T11:13:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T10:13:01","slug":"tax-regime-former-residents-portugal","status":"publish","type":"publicacion","link":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/publicacion\/tax-regime-former-residents-portugal\/","title":{"rendered":"Tax regime for former residents in 2026 in Portugal: recent clarification by the Portuguese Tax Authorities and practical implications"},"content":{"rendered":"

Framework of the tax regime for former residents<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The tax regime for former residents, set out in Article 12-A of the Portuguese Personal Income Tax Code, was introduced into the Portuguese legal system by Law no. 71\/2018 (State Budget for 2019), with the aim of encouraging the return of individuals who were previously tax residents in Portugal.<\/p>\n

Over the years, this regime has been successively extended and adjusted and is currently applicable to taxpayers who become tax resident in Portugal up to 2026, under the amendments introduced by Law no. 82\/2023 (State Budget for 2024).<\/p>\n

From a substantive standpoint, the regime provides for a 50% exemption from taxation on employment income (Category A) and business and professional income (Category B), up to the upper limit of the first tax bracket, for a period of five years.<\/p>\n

Eligibility requirements<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In order to benefit from the regime, taxpayers must cumulatively meet the following requirements:<\/p>\n

\u2013 Become tax resident in Portugal by 2026;<\/p>\n

\u2013 Not have been considered tax resident in Portugal in any of the five preceding years;<\/p>\n

\u2013 Have previously been tax resident in Portugal;<\/p>\n

\u2013 Have their tax situation regularised;<\/p>\n

\u2013 Not have applied for or benefited from the non-habitual resident regime.<\/p>\n

Among these requirements, the criterion concerning the absence of tax residence during the five preceding years is particularly relevant and has raised interpretative doubts.<\/p>\n

Recent clarification by the Portuguese Tax Authorities<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Portuguese Tax Authorities, through a recent binding ruling, have clarified the method for calculating the non-residence period, adopting a particularly strict interpretation.<\/p>\n

According to this administrative position, the five years of non-residence must correspond to full calendar years, i.e. periods running from 1 January to 31 December, during which the taxpayer cannot have been considered tax resident in Portugal at any time.<\/p>\n

This interpretation implies that situations of partial residence in a given year \u2014 for example, where a change of residence occurs during the year \u2014 prevent that year from being counted for the purposes of the five-year requirement.<\/p>\n

Practical case analysed by the Portuguese Tax Authorities<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the specific case analysed by the Portuguese Tax Authorities, a taxpayer who had transferred her tax residence to the United Kingdom in May 2021 intended to return to Portugal in 2026 and benefit from the regime.<\/p>\n

The Tax Authorities concluded that this would not be possible, since:<\/p>\n

\u2013 The year 2021 cannot be considered a year of non-residence, as there was partial residence in Portugal;<\/p>\n

\u2013 Consequently, there are not five full calendar years of non-residence between 2021 and 2025;<\/p>\n

\u2013 Therefore, the requirement set out in paragraph 1(b) of Article 12-A of the CIRS is not met.<\/p>\n

This interpretation reflects a strict and formalistic approach to the regime.<\/p>\n

Practical implications and risks<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The interpretation adopted by the Portuguese Tax Authorities has relevant implications for the tax planning of individuals considering returning to Portugal, namely:<\/p>\n

\u2013 The need for a detailed analysis of the tax residence history, including situations of partial residence;<\/p>\n

\u2013 The risk of exclusion from the regime in cases that might appear eligible under a less restrictive interpretation;<\/p>\n

\u2013 The importance of timing the return to Portugal, which may justify postponement in order to ensure full compliance with the five full calendar years requirement;<\/p>\n

\u2013 The incompatibility with the non-habitual resident regime, requiring prior strategic assessment.<\/p>\n

Final considerations<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The regime for former residents continues to be a relevant instrument of tax policy; however, its practical application is becoming increasingly demanding from an interpretative standpoint.<\/p>\n

The recent clarification by the Portuguese Tax Authorities reinforces the need for early and technically sound tax planning, failing which the benefit may be lost due to non-compliance with formal requirements.<\/p>\n

In this context, it is essential that taxpayers interested in this regime carry out an individualised analysis of their situation, ensuring proper legal qualification and optimisation of tax efficiency.<\/p>\n

The Tax Law Department<\/a> of Belzuz Abogados, S.L.P.<\/a> has extensive experience in advising both national and international clients on tax mobility, special tax regimes and cross-border tax planning, providing comprehensive support from the analysis phase through to implementation and tax compliance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12436,"template":"","categories":[],"area-de-practica":[223],"publicaciones":[122],"idioma-publicacion":[71],"areas-practica-publicacciones":[],"class_list":["post-21025","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\/21025","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=21025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21025"},{"taxonomy":"area-de-practica","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/area-de-practica?post=21025"},{"taxonomy":"publicaciones","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publicaciones?post=21025"},{"taxonomy":"idioma-publicacion","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/idioma-publicacion?post=21025"},{"taxonomy":"areas-practica-publicacciones","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belzuz.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/areas-practica-publicacciones?post=21025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}