{"slug":"portugal-ifici-nhr-checker","name":"Portugal IFICI (\"NHR 2.0\") Eligibility Checker","category":"everyday","tags":["tax","planning"],"region":"PT","tagline":"Whether you qualify for Portugal’s IFICI — the activity-gated successor to the NHR regime that closed in 2024.","endpoint":"https://xearno.tools/api/v1/tools/portugal-ifici-nhr-checker","page":"https://xearno.tools/t/portugal-ifici-nhr-checker","description":"Checks your eligibility for Portugal’s IFICI (Incentivo Fiscal à Investigação Científica e Inovação, widely called \"NHR 2.0\"): 20% flat tax on eligible-activity Portuguese income for 10 years, with most foreign income exempt. The old NHR closed to new entrants on 1 Jan 2024, yet general AI still tells people to \"apply for NHR\" and quotes its 10% foreign-pension rate — gone: IFICI taxes foreign pensions at full progressive rates. The real gate is an activity test across six routes with route-specific certifying entities (FCT, AT, ANI, Startup Portugal, AICEP) — this tool walks the gates in order and names the route, the certifier, and the registration deadline.","inputSchema":{"type":"object","properties":{"priorPtResident":{"description":"Were you a Portuguese tax resident in ANY of the 5 years before arrival? A hard gate: IFICI is only for people becoming PT tax resident who were NOT resident in any of the previous 5 years. \"Yes\" ends the analysis regardless of your activity.","type":"string","enum":["no","yes"],"default":"no"},"formerRegime":{"description":"Did you ever benefit from the old NHR or the Programa Regressar? Either one bars you from IFICI. If your old NHR 10-year term is still running you keep it under the old rules — you just cannot switch to IFICI.","type":"string","enum":["none","nhr","regressar"],"default":"none"},"activity":{"description":"Which eligible activity fits you? THE gate. IFICI is not a general expat regime — your work must fit one of these routes, each certified by a different entity. Annex-I professions include directors, physical-science/engineering specialists, doctors, university professors, and ICT specialists.","type":"string","enum":["teachingResearch","qualifiedProfession","exportCompany","startup","rd","investmentContract","madeiraAzores","other"],"default":"qualifiedProfession"},"qualification":{"description":"Your qualification (Annex-I profession route only) Only matters for the Annex-I highly-qualified-profession route; ignored for every other route. That route requires a PhD, or a Bachelor-level degree plus at least 3 years of proven experience.","type":"string","enum":["phd","bachelorPlus3","neither"],"default":"bachelorPlus3"},"ptIncome":{"description":"Expected annual PT income from the eligible activity (€) Employment or self-employment income from the eligible activity, per year — the income the 20% flat rate would apply to.","type":"number","minimum":0,"default":60000},"foreignPension":{"description":"Will you draw a foreign pension? e.g. a company or state pension from your home country. The single biggest NHR-vs-IFICI difference: the old NHR taxed these at 10%; IFICI taxes them at full progressive rates.","type":"string","enum":["no","yes"],"default":"no"}},"required":[],"additionalProperties":false},"methodology":["Regime: IFICI (Incentivo Fiscal à Investigação Científica e Inovação, \"NHR 2.0\") — introduced by Lei 82/2023 as EBF art. 58-A and regulated by Portaria 352/2024/1. It grants a 20% flat IRS rate on eligible-activity Portuguese employment and self-employment income for 10 consecutive, non-renewable years.","Eligibility gates, in order: (1) becoming a Portuguese tax resident who was NOT PT tax resident in any of the previous 5 years; (2) never having benefited from the old NHR regime or the Programa Regressar; (3) exercising an eligible activity under one of the six routes; (4) for the Annex-I highly-qualified-profession route only, holding a PhD (EQF level 8) or a Bachelor-level degree (EQF level 6) plus at least 3 years of duly proven professional experience.","The six routes and their certifying entities (Portaria 352/2024/1): higher-education teaching / scientific research → FCT; Annex-I highly qualified professions in companies with RFAI / investment-benefit status → AT; companies with an Annex-II CAE code and ≥50% export turnover → AT; certified startups under Lei 21/2023 → Startup Portugal; R&D personnel with SIFIDE-eligible costs → ANI; jobs under AICEP contractual investment benefits → AICEP. Madeira and Azores have route slots in the law whose regional implementing regulation was still pending as of mid-2026.","Tax treatment: 20% flat on eligible-activity PT employment / self-employment income. Most foreign-source income is exempt (with progression): foreign employment income, dividends, interest, royalties, rents, and capital gains. Investment income from blacklisted jurisdictions is taxed at 35%. Foreign PENSIONS are excluded from the exemption and taxed at full progressive rates — top marginal ~48%, up to ~53% with the solidarity surcharge. This is the sharpest break from the old NHR, which taxed foreign pensions at 10%.","Timeline: registration with the competent certifying entity by 15 January of the year after becoming PT tax resident; certifiers report registrations to AT by 15 February; decisions are communicated by around 31 March. The old NHR closed to new entrants on 1 January 2024 and its transitional registration window ended 31 March 2025; existing NHR holders keep their original 10-year term.","Why no exact progressive-tax comparison is computed: the 2026 mainland IRS bracket table was not part of this pass’s verified data, and fabricating brackets would be worse than omitting them. The tool therefore computes only the verified 20% flat figure and describes the progressive alternative qualitatively with one verified anchor (top marginal ~48% + solidarity ≈ up to 53%). The 2026 state budget (OE2026) made general bracket updates but no IFICI-specific changes.","Sources: the AT (Autoridade Tributária) portal as primary; Portaria 352/2024/1 as analysed by Cuatrecasas. Verified 2026-07-23."],"usage":"POST https://xearno.tools/api/v1/tools/portugal-ifici-nhr-checker with a JSON body matching inputSchema."}