NHR Is Closed. Here's What IFICI Actually Offers in 2026
Portugal's Non-Habitual Resident regime, the tax status that shaped a decade of relocation decisions, closed to new applicants at the end of 2024. Anyone who secured NHR before that deadline keeps their full ten-year benefit. Everyone arriving after it needs a different answer, and that answer is IFICI.
What replaced NHR
IFICI (the Tax Incentive for Scientific Research and Innovation) launched on 1 January 2025 as Portugal's new special tax regime. It offers a flat 20 percent rate on qualifying Portuguese-source income, plus exemptions on much of an applicant's foreign-source income, for up to ten years, structurally similar in shape to the old NHR benefit.
The real difference: who it's actually for
This is the part that trips people up. NHR was broad, available to a wide range of new residents. IFICI is narrower by design, targeted specifically at scientific research, higher education, qualified job creation, and innovation-sector roles, rather than new residents in general. Someone who would have qualified for NHR without a second thought in 2023 may not automatically fit IFICI's eligibility criteria today.
As of early 2026, Portugal's tax authority has begun issuing the first wave of IFICI approvals, confirming the regime is operating in practice, not just on paper.
What this means before you relocate
- Confirm eligibility against IFICI's actual criteria before assuming any special tax status applies to your situation.
- If your income doesn't fit an eligible category, plan around Portugal's standard tax rules rather than a special regime that may not apply.
- Timing matters: tax residency status is easier to plan before a move than to unwind after one.
None of this is a reason to avoid Portugal as a tax resident. It is a reason to get a real answer on your specific eligibility early, from someone qualified to give one, rather than assuming the old NHR story still applies.
Urbanis connects relocating clients with vetted tax and accounting partners for a real answer on eligibility.
Talk to the Relocation TeamThis article is general information, not tax or legal advice, and does not replace guidance from a licensed advisor on your specific case.