Portugal’s annual IRS filing season is already underway, and for foreign residents this is the first cycle to fully reflect the post-NHR tax landscape — plus a new obligation that catches many expats off guard: disclosing offshore assets.
The filing window itself
The declaration for income earned in 2025 has to be submitted between 1 April and 30 June 2026. Submission is exclusively online through the Portal das Finanças, and taxpayers have been able to submit their 2025 income declarations since Wednesday 1 April 2026, with the filing window running for three months, from 1 April to 30 June. There’s no automatic extension — miss the window and you’re into penalty territory, potential loss of joint taxation as a couple, and a slower refund.
Before you even open the form, two earlier checkpoints mattered: validating invoices on e-Fatura and confirming household details, both due by early March, and a mid-to-late March window to review AT-calculated deductions. If you skipped those, some deductions this year may simply reflect last year’s data rather than your actual 2025 situation.
One genuinely useful development: the government expects the Automatic IRS feature to cover around two million declarations this year, and roughly a quarter of taxpayers already used it last cycle. If you have simple employment or pension income from a Portuguese source with no other complications, check your personal area on the portal — it may pre-fill and let you confirm in minutes rather than working through Anexo forms.
NHR is gone; IFICI is the only game for new arrivals
If you moved to Portugal expecting the old Non-Habitual Resident perks, this filing season is a reality check. The scheme was still possible to apply for before the 31 March 2025 cut-off, but only if you met specific requirements, and anyone already registered under the program will continue to benefit from the same tax benefits available to them under the existing terms for the entire 10-year period. Everyone else is either filing under standard progressive IRS rates or under IFICI — the narrower “NHR 2.0” — which offers a single, targeted set of tax advantages, but the benefits are meaningful for anyone relocating to Portugal to work in scientific research, innovation, or other designated high-skill fields.
The distinction matters at filing time because IFICI is not automatic — eligible applicants must submit their IFICI request by 15 January of the year following the year they become Portuguese tax residents. If you became resident in 2025 and didn’t file that request by 15 January 2026, you’ve likely missed the window for that tax year and will need advice on whether a late request is still viable for a future year. Retirees living on pension income should note that IFICI, unlike old NHR, offers no special pension treatment — that income is taxed at ordinary progressive rates once you’re outside a grandfathered NHR window.
New this year: offshore asset disclosure and crypto data-sharing
A quieter but significant change affects anyone holding money or assets outside Portugal in low-tax jurisdictions. Taxpayers with assets in low or zero-tax territories now have to include that information in their income declaration — deposit or securities account values, property rights, shares in companies, and vehicles, vessels or aircraft registered there — under a 2025 decree-law setting out which assets must be reported. The list of relevant jurisdictions runs to more than 80 countries and territories. If you retain accounts or holdings in a listed jurisdiction, check whether this applies to your 2025 return before submitting.
Crypto holders face a parallel shift: Portugal began receiving crypto transaction data under new international reporting rules from 1 January 2026, meaning the Finanças now has visibility into exchange activity it didn’t have before. Gains on crypto held under 365 days remain taxable at 28%, while longer holdings stay exempt — but underreporting is a riskier bet than it used to be.
What to actually do before 30 June
Confirm your household details and IBAN are current on the portal, check whether Automatic IRS applies to you, and if you’re a landlord dispensed from issuing electronic rent receipts, make sure Modelo 44 was filed on time — it’s a linked obligation that affects both your figures and your tenant’s deductions. If your situation involves NHR, IFICI, foreign pensions, rental income, or assets abroad, this is not a form to rush through on assumptions from a previous year — assessment notices go out by 31 July for on-time filers, and errors surface later as costly corrections rather than quick fixes.
For the fuller picture on residency-linked tax obligations, see our /tax-and-nif/ hub, and for professional support navigating IFICI eligibility or offshore disclosure questions, GrowIN Portugal’s /services/ team can point you to the right specialist. As always with tax filings, when in doubt, get a second opinion before you submit — the Portal das Finanças doesn’t undo a bad decision quietly.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and editorial oversight in line with our editorial policy. It is general information, not legal or tax advice.