Taxes, Banking and Money in Portugal for Digital Nomads

You are a Portuguese tax resident for a year if you:

• spend more than 183 days in Portugal in any 12-month period, or
• have a home in Portugal that suggests you intend to live there as your habitual residence.

Residents are taxed on worldwide income. Since 2015, residency can start part-way through the year, so you are resident only from the day you arrive. Non-residents are taxed only on Portuguese-source income.

D8 holders who live in Portugal will usually become tax residents. Someone on a 90-day Schengen stay usually will not.

The Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) regime closed to new applicants at the end of 2024. Its replacement, IFICI (often called “NHR 2.0”), offers:

• a 20% flat rate on qualifying Portuguese employment and self-employment income, and
• an exemption on most foreign income, for ten years.

But IFICI is narrow: it is for people working in qualifying roles such as research, higher education, certified startups, and some tech and innovation companies, usually with a degree and an approved employer or activity. Most remote workers for foreign clients don’t qualify. Check eligibility with a Portuguese tax adviser before you move.

Portugal’s income tax is progressive, from about 12.5% to 48% across nine brackets, plus a solidarity surcharge on very high incomes. Self-employed people (trabalhadores independentes) under the simplified regime are taxed on a set percentage of their income (75% for most professional services), and pay social security contributions. Portugal has tax treaties with around 80 countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia.

These are ballpark monthly costs for one person living comfortably in a one-bedroom flat on a monthly lease, eating out most days, with a coworking desk and a social life.

Rough prices: an espresso about €1, a pastel de nata €1.30 to €1.80, a prato do dia lunch €10 to €13, a dinner out €20 to €35, a beer €2 to €4, a coworking day pass €15 to €25, a month of coworking €150 to €300, and a Lisbon monthly transport pass €40.

Cards and contactless payments work almost everywhere, though some small cafes and tascas prefer cash. MB Way, linked to a Portuguese bank account, is used for splitting bills, paying friends and many small businesses. Multibanco ATMs are everywhere and usually free on the Portuguese side.

You need a NIF and usually proof of address. Traditional banks (Millennium BCP, Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Novo Banco, ActivoBank) open accounts for non-residents and residents, sometimes with a monthly fee. A Portuguese account gives you MB Way and makes paying rent and bills easier. Many nomads use Wise or Revolut until they have one, and EU IBANs from other countries are accepted for most direct debits.