Guide · Hiring from abroad

IFICI: what a company in Portugal needs so its qualified staff pay 20% income tax

IFICI is a personal income tax regime. A person who becomes tax resident in Portugal, and was not resident in any of the previous five years, pays a flat 20% on employment and self-employment income for 10 consecutive years, if the job is an eligible one. It covers people who became resident from 2024 on, and it excludes anyone who used the former non-habitual resident regime or the returning-resident regime of article 12-A of the personal income tax code.

The job is eligible only when the employer qualifies, and that is where the incentives we work with come in. A company opens the regime to its qualified staff when it has used RFAI, when it exports at least 50% of its turnover, when its R&D staff costs are eligible for SIFIDE II, when it is a certified startup, or when it holds an investment contract with the state. This guide covers the employer's side. The employee's own tax position needs a tax adviser.

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Figures checked against the official sources between 18 and 19 September 2026. We never promise approvals.

What it is: A flat 20% personal income tax rate on eligible employment and self-employment income, for 10 consecutive years
Who gets it: The employee or board member. The company gains in recruitment
The person: Becomes tax resident in Portugal, was not resident in the previous five years, never used the non-habitual resident regime or the returning-resident regime
The employer: Fits one of the routes in article 58-A of the Tax Benefits Statute
The person registers by: 15 January of the year after becoming resident, on the Portal das Finanças
The company confirms by: 15 March, for the highly qualified professions routes
Legal basis: Article 58-A of the Tax Benefits Statute and Ordinance 352/2024/1

The employer routes

Route	What the company needs	Which jobs	Who checks
Investment contract	Contractual tax benefits for productive investment, under chapter II of the Investment Tax Code	Qualified jobs, from level 5 of the European Qualifications Framework, and board members	AICEP
RFAI	Relevant investment under RFAI in the year the person starts, or in the five previous financial years	Highly qualified professions, plus directors and managers	Tax Authority, with the company's confirmation
Exporter	An industrial or service company whose main activity code is on the list in the ordinance, and which exports at least 50% of its turnover in the year the person starts or in one of the two years before	Highly qualified professions	Tax Authority, with the company's confirmation
Recognised activity	An activity that AICEP or IAPMEI recognises as relevant to the national economy	Qualified jobs on the agencies' lists, from level 5, and board members	AICEP or IAPMEI
SIFIDE II	The company benefits from SIFIDE II, and the person's salary is an eligible R&D staff cost	R&D work, with at least level 4 of the national qualifications framework	ANI, the national innovation agency
Certified startup	Startup status under Law 21/2023	Jobs in research or innovation, and board members	Startup Portugal

Universities, research bodies and technology and innovation centres have a route of their own, checked by the science foundation, FCT. The Azores and Madeira can add regional routes by regional law.

What counts as a highly qualified profession

The ordinance lists the professions by their code in the Portuguese classification of professions:

General managers and executive directors of companies.
Directors of administrative and commercial services, and of production and specialised services.
Specialists in the physical sciences, mathematics and engineering, and industrial product designers.
Doctors, and university and higher education teachers.
Information and communication technology specialists.

The person also needs a doctorate, or a bachelor's or master's degree with three years of proven professional experience. On the RFAI route, the law adds administrators, managers and general directors to the list.

What the company has to do

Check the route before you make the offer. The route decides who verifies the job and which papers the candidate needs.
Give the employee the declaration. On the investment contract, recognised activity and SIFIDE II routes, the company issues a declaration that the job meets the requirements, and the employee attaches it to the registration.
Remind the employee of the date. The person registers on the Portal das Finanças by 15 January of the year after becoming tax resident. A late registration starts the regime in the year of the registration, and the years before it are lost.
Confirm on the portal. On the two highly qualified professions routes, the Tax Authority places a request in the company's area of the Portal das Finanças by the end of February. By 15 March the company confirms that it meets the route's conditions and that the person does the job.
Withhold at 20%. Once the employee shows proof of the registration request, the company withholds tax on the eligible income at 20%.
Expect a yearly check. The verifying bodies report to the Tax Authority by 15 February each year, and the employee sees the status of the registration by 31 March.

An employee who changes employer files a new registration. The regime continues when the new eligible job starts within six months of the end of the previous one.

How the routes connect to the incentives

RFAI. A company that invests and claims RFAI opens the route for the year of the investment and the five that follow. One limit: RFAI also accepts the salary costs of new jobs for staff at level 7 or 8 of the National Qualifications Framework (a master's degree or a doctorate), and IFICI excludes the income from jobs whose cost the company claimed that way. Decide job by job which benefit you use.
SIFIDE II. R&D staff whose salaries the company claims under SIFIDE II fit the route, with no degree requirement beyond level 4.
Startup status. You request the status through the gov.pt portal, and Startup Portugal decides within five working days. See startup grants and incentives.
Exports. The exporter route needs no application. The company's activity code and its export ratio decide.

What employers get wrong

Treating IFICI as a company tax rate. The company's rates are in the corporate tax rate guide. IFICI lowers the employee's tax.
Assuming any job in any company qualifies. Both have to fit a route.
Promising it to someone who used the former regime. A person who used the non-habitual resident regime cannot use IFICI. Neither can a person who opted for the returning-resident regime in article 12-A of the personal income tax code.
Missing 15 March. On the highly qualified professions routes the employee's registration depends on the company's confirmation.
Forgetting the RFAI exclusion. A salary claimed as an RFAI cost takes that job out of IFICI.

This guide follows the Tax Authority's leaflet of March 2025. It explains the employer's side and it is no tax advice for the employee. Tax law changes with each state budget, so confirm the rules for the year with a certified accountant or a tax lawyer.

Frequently asked questions

Does IFICI lower the company's taxes?

No. IFICI is a personal income tax regime. The company gains when it recruits from abroad: the same gross salary leaves the employee with more net pay.

Which companies can offer IFICI jobs?

Companies with an investment contract with the state, companies that have used RFAI, exporters of at least 50% of turnover in listed activities, companies in activities recognised by AICEP or IAPMEI, companies whose R&D staff costs are eligible for SIFIDE II, and certified startups.

Can a founder or a director benefit?

Several routes cover board members, and the RFAI route covers administrators, managers and general directors. The person still has to meet the personal conditions: becoming tax resident, and not having been resident in any of the previous five years.

What are the deadlines?

The person registers by 15 January of the year after becoming resident. On the highly qualified professions routes, the Tax Authority asks the company for confirmation by the end of February, and the company answers by 15 March. The employee sees the result by 31 March.

Can the same job count for RFAI salary costs and for IFICI?

No. The law excludes from IFICI the income from jobs whose salary cost the company claimed under RFAI.

Official sources

The official texts are in Portuguese. The figures on this page were checked against them.

Tax and Customs Authority (AT): IFICI leaflet, March 2025 (article 58-A of the EBF and Ordinance 352/2024/1) (checked 19 September 2026)
Investment Tax Code (CFI), article 22 (RFAI: scope and conditions) (checked 19 September 2026)
Startup Portugal: recognition of startup and scaleup status (Law 21/2023) (checked 18 September 2026)

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