Non-habitual
Residents Tax Regime

The NHR Tax Regime was introduced by the Portuguese Government in 2009; the main objective is to attract wealthy individuals and their families to become non habitual tax residents in Portugal in return for dramatically reduced personal taxation.

A Non-Habitual Resident (“NHR”) will be exempt from personal income tax on certain types of qualifying income if this income is subject to tax in the country of source under an existing Double Tax Treaty that allows for this or, if no Tax Treaty exists, were subject to tax in another jurisdiction and are not considered as Portuguese source income under domestic rules. Certain types of qualifying income under the regime will also benefit from a double tax exemption i.e. an exemption in Portugal and in the source jurisdiction. A special flat rate of 20% is also applicable for certain types of income arising from a number of highly qualified activities.

Pensions, dividends, royalties and interest from non-Portuguese sourced income are exempt from personal income tax in Portugal. Certain types of salaries, provided they are paid from a non-Portuguese source, can also be exempt from tax.

Who is eligible?

Any individual who becomes Portuguese tax resident in accordance with Portuguese Law i.e. who has his habitual residence in Portugal or who spends more than 183 days in Portugal in the tax year, which runs from 1st January to 31st December or has a dwelling in Portugal at 31 December of that year with the intention to hold it as his habitual residence, and has not been taxed in Portugal, as tax resident, in the previous five years.