Portugal vs Switzerland tax in 2026: what a Swiss resident gains and gives up

Residence: cantonal domicile against the 183 days

Switzerland taxes you where you are domiciled (the centre of your life) or stay 30 days with work or 90 days without; leaving means deregistering from the commune and giving up the domicile, and Swiss practice looks hard at a home kept available. Portugal counts 183 days in a twelve-month window or the day you keep a habitual home (IRS Code, art. 16.º). Article 4 of the 1974 convention settles a conflict by permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality.

• 11,5 % maximum federal tax, plus cantonal and communal tax that varies from about 10 % to 30 %; 12,5 % to 48 % in Portugal
• Wealth tax in every canton; none in Portugal
• Pensions, AHV and second-pillar lump sums: taxable only in Portugal (art. 18 and 21) — Swiss source tax refunded
• 5 % / 15 % — 10 % — 5 % treaty ceilings on dividends, interest, royalties; the 35 % Swiss withholding is reclaimed down to them

Income tax, side by side

For earned income Switzerland is cheaper almost everywhere and by a wide margin in low-tax cantons. For a retiree with capital, Portugal removes the wealth tax and taxes interest and dividends at 28 %; the calculation depends on the canton left and the assets held.

The 1974 convention, protocol of 2012

• Pensions (art. 18): pensions for past employment — second-pillar (BVG/LPP) pensions, private pensions — are taxable only in the residence state. The AHV/AVS and other income not mentioned elsewhere fall under article 21, also residence state only. A Swiss resident of Portugal therefore pays Portuguese tax on the AHV and the pension fund and no Swiss tax; Swiss source tax withheld on pension-fund payments to non-residents is refunded on proof of Portuguese residence and taxation.
• Lump-sum withdrawals from the second pillar or vested benefits are taxed at source by the canton of the fund; the refund follows the same rule, and Portugal taxes the payment as pension income with the capital component excluded where contributions were already taxed (art. 54.º IRS) — an analysis worth doing before the withdrawal, not after.
• Government pensions (art. 19): Switzerland, unless the pensioner is a Portuguese resident and national.
• Dividends (art. 10): 15 %, or 5 % for a company holding 25 %. Interest (art. 11): 10 %. Royalties (art. 12): 5 %. Switzerland’s 35 % withholding tax is reclaimed down to those rates on the form for Portugal; Portugal’s 28 % falls to the treaty rates on Modelo 21-RFI.
• Capital gains (art. 13): property where it stands; shares in the residence state — Portugal at 28 %, against a Swiss exemption for private investors.
• Relief (art. 23): Portugal credits Swiss tax; Switzerland exempts Portuguese-source income with progression and credits the withholding on dividends, interest and royalties.

Companies and VAT

Swiss corporate tax runs from about 12 % to 21 % combined depending on the canton; Portugal charges 19 % in 2026 (17 % from 2028) with 15 % on the first 50 000 € for SMEs. VAT: 8,1 % standard, 2,6 % reduced and 3,8 % on accommodation in Switzerland against 23 / 13 / 6 % in Portugal — the largest visible price difference between the two countries. The social security and VAT page sets the contributions and rates side by side; the treaty page reads the articles.

Property and inheritance

Buying in Portugal: IMT by bracket (7,5 % flat while you are still non-resident since 25 May 2026, refundable within two years of becoming resident) plus 0,8 % stamp duty; IMI 0,3–0,45 % of the tax value; AIMI above 600 000 €. Inheritance: Portugal charges 10 % stamp duty with spouses, children and parents exempt; Swiss inheritance tax is cantonal, generally exempting spouses and often descendants, and applies to Swiss property and to estates of Swiss-domiciled persons.

Special regimes

NHR closed on 1 January 2024. IFICI gives 20 % for ten years on Portuguese income from listed activities and exempts foreign income with progression for people not resident here in the previous five years; pensions are excluded. Swiss dividends under IFICI: 15 % Swiss withholding (after reclaim), nothing Portuguese. The NHR and IFICI page for Swiss investors has the detail.

Before you move

Questions from Swiss clients