Portugal vs Sweden tax in 2026: living without a treaty

What “no treaty” means in practice

Between 1 January 2022 and today, income that crosses the border is taxed by each country under its own law:

• Sweden taxes Swedish-source income of non-residents: pensions and salaries under SINK (22,5 % in 2026, 20 % from 2027), dividends from Swedish companies under the coupon tax (30 %), Swedish property and, for ten years after departure, gains on shares.
• Portugal taxes its residents on worldwide income and grants a unilateral credit for foreign income tax (IRS Code, art. 81.º n.º 1), capped at the Portuguese tax on that income — no treaty rate to respect, but no relief beyond the Portuguese tax either.
• No tie-breaker: a person resident in both countries under domestic law is taxed by both on everything, with only the Portuguese credit as relief. Ending Swedish residence properly — no “essential connection” (väsentlig anknytning) — matters more than for any other nationality.

• 1 January 2022 — the convention of 2002 stopped applying; nothing has replaced it
• 22,5 % SINK on Swedish pensions and salaries of non-residents in 2026, 20 % in 2027; 30 % on Swedish dividends
• Unilateral credit in Portugal, up to the Portuguese tax — the Swedish tax is never fully refunded
• Ten years after leaving, Sweden still taxes gains on Swedish and Swedish-acquired shares

Income tax, side by side

For a Swede on a middle salary Portugal is lighter — 32 % municipal tax from the first krona above the allowance against Portugal’s 12,5–34,9 % bands — and heavier only at the very top, where Sweden stops at 52 % and Portugal’s 48 % is joined by uncapped 11 % contributions. Pensions and dividends are lighter here; the Swedish absence of inheritance tax is matched by Portugal’s exemption of spouses, children and parents.

Pensions without a treaty

A Swedish pension — allmän pension, occupational (ITP, SAF-LO), private — paid to a Portuguese resident is taxed in Sweden under SINK at 22,5 % (the general pension has a small tax-free amount) and in Portugal at the progressive rates after the 4 587 € deduction, with the Swedish tax credited up to the Portuguese tax on the pension. On a 30 000 € pension the Portuguese tax is about 4 800 €, the Swedish 6 750 €: the credit is capped at 4 800 €, so the total cost is 6 750 € — the Swedish tax. Above roughly 50 000 € of pension Portugal’s average rate passes 22,5 % and the Portuguese tax becomes the ceiling, with the difference paid here. A retiree may instead ask to be taxed in Sweden under ordinary rules (with allowances) when 90 % of income is Swedish — rarely better than SINK.

The capital gains page and the no-treaty page cover shares, dividends and property in the same way.

Companies and VAT

Sweden: corporate tax 20,6 %, VAT 25 / 12 / 6 %. Portugal: 19 % in 2026 (17 % from 2028), 15 % on the first 50 000 € for SMEs, VAT 23 / 13 / 6 %. Without a treaty, dividends from a Portuguese Lda to a Swedish parent are exempt under the EU parent-subsidiary rules (10 % held for a year) and 28 % otherwise; the reverse is 30 % coupon tax unless the EU rules apply. See corporate tax for Swedish companies.

Special regimes

NHR — the reason Sweden left — closed on 1 January 2024. IFICI offers 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. Without a treaty, the Swedish tax on income Portugal exempts is simply final. The NHR page for Swedish residents explains what remains.

Before you move

Questions from Swedish clients