Monday to Saturday, 9:00–18:00 (Lisbon time)

Capital gains, Portugal vs Sweden: 28 % against 30 %, and Sweden's ten-year rule

A Swede who sells shares after moving to Portugal can be taxed twice for a decade: Sweden's ten-year rule keeps Swedish shares — and foreign shares bought while living in Sweden — in its net, and without a treaty Portugal's credit only covers up to its own 28 %. The sale calendar is the whole game.

Updated Facts checked against official sources (listed at the end)


Investor reviewing figures on a screen

The two systems

PortugalSweden
Shares, funds, bonds28 % on the net gain of the year; 10 %, 20 % or 30 % of the gain excluded for listed securities and open funds held over 2, 5 or 8 years; mandatory aggregation for assets held under 365 days when income is in the top bracket30 % on the gain; ISK accounts taxed on a notional yield instead
Property50 % of the gain at the progressive rates; main home exempt on EU/EEA reinvestment within 36 months22 % effective on a private home (30 % of 22/30 of the gain), deferral on reinvestment in a new home in the EEA
Crypto28 %, exempt after 365 days30 %
Lossesoffset within the category; five-year carry-forward on aggregation70 % of losses on listed shares offsettable against other capital income; full offset against share gains
  • 28 % vs 30 % headline rates; Portugal's holding-period reductions have no Swedish counterpart
  • Ten years: Sweden taxes a former resident's gains on Swedish shares and on foreign shares bought while resident
  • Funds and ISK are outside the ten-year rule — the assets Swedes should hold when they leave
  • No treaty: the Portuguese credit for Swedish tax is capped at 28 %, so 30 % is the cost within the ten years

Sweden’s ten-year rule

A person who was resident in Sweden in the year of a sale or in any of the ten previous years is taxed in Sweden on gains from:

  • listed shares in Swedish companies;
  • other Swedish participations except fund units;
  • listed shares in foreign companies acquired (by purchase, exchange, gift or inheritance) while resident in Sweden;
  • unlisted foreign participations acquired while resident.

Not covered: fund units (Swedish or foreign), assets in an ISK, interest and — for non-residents — the notional ISK income. Sweden’s treaties normally shorten the ten years; without one, the full period applies to Portugal.

Portugal’s side

Gains realised by a resident are taxed here whatever the ten-year rule says: 28 % on shares and funds (less the holding-period exclusions), half the gain at progressive rates on property. Swedish tax paid on the same gain is credited under art. 81.º n.º 1 up to the Portuguese tax — so a gain on Swedish shares in year three after departure costs 30 % in Sweden and nothing more in Portugal, while a gain on a Swedish fund costs 28 % in Portugal and nothing in Sweden.

What to hold when you leave

AssetSweden after departurePortugalSuggested handling
Swedish listed shares30 % for ten years28 %, credit cappedsell before leaving or hold beyond ten years
Foreign shares bought in Sweden30 % for ten years28 %same
Swedish or foreign fundsnothing28 % (less after 2/5/8 years)keep; Portugal alone taxes
ISKnothing on the notional yield28 % on actual income and gains insidekeep or convert to funds; Portugal looks through
Swedish home22 % effective on the gain, deferral only for a new home in the EEA (Portugal qualifies)half the gain at progressive rates once resident; no Portuguese main-home relief for a home you no longer occupysell before the move
Crypto30 %exempt after a yearhold a year in Portugal

Steps

Date the acquisitions

Which shares fall under the ten-year rule and what was paid for them; Portugal measures the gain from the same cost in euros.

Sell or switch before departure

Swedish shares to funds; the home before the move; crypto kept for the Portuguese year.

Declare on both sides

Swedish return for ten-year-rule sales; Portuguese annex G/J with the Swedish tax for the credit.

After ten years

Only Portugal taxes; the reductions after two, five and eight years of holding apply.

We map your portfolio against the ten-year rule and the Portuguese exclusions, and file both annexes with the capped credit. Send us the statement.

Questions

Does Portugal rebase my shares when I arrive?

No. The gain is computed from the original cost, converted to euros at the historical rate. Selling and repurchasing before the move, at Swedish rates, resets it.

Are ISK gains taxed in Portugal as they arise?

Portugal taxes the actual events: dividends and interest received inside the ISK at 28 %, gains at 28 % when a position is sold. The Swedish notional taxation stops for non-residents.

I bought Apple shares in Stockholm in 2019 and sell them in Lisbon in 2027. Who taxes?

Both: Sweden under the ten-year rule (foreign listed shares acquired while resident), at 30 %; Portugal at 28 % with a credit for the Swedish tax up to 28 %. Cost: 30 %.

Sources and official references

  1. Skatteverket — living abroad: the ten-year rule on listed Swedish shares, Swedish participations and foreign shares acquired while resident; funds and ISK excluded — checked 18.9.2026
  2. Skatteverket — 2026: state tax on capital income 30 % — checked 18.9.2026
  3. Código do IRS, artigo 72.º — 28 % on gains; mandatory aggregation for assets held under 365 days in the top bracket; artigo 43.º — property gains at 50 %; listed securities: 10 / 20 / 30 % excluded after 2 / 5 / 8 years — checked 18.9.2026
  4. Código do IRS, artigo 10.º — main-home reinvestment (n.º 5); crypto held 365 days excluded (n.º 22) — checked 18.9.2026
  5. Código do IRS, artigo 81.º n.º 1 — unilateral credit, capped at the Portuguese tax — checked 18.9.2026
Contents