Portugal vs Turkey tax in 2026: what a Turkish investor or family pays in each

Residence: six months against 183 days

Turkey treats a person as resident when domiciled there or present for more than six months in a calendar year (temporary absences included); Portugal after 183 days in a twelve-month window or from the day you keep a home that looks like a habitual residence (IRS Code, art. 16.º). Article 4 of the 2005 convention settles a conflict by permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode and nationality. A Turkish family that keeps the Istanbul apartment and moves the children to a Lisbon school has its centre of vital interests here.

• 15 % to 40 % Turkish brackets (indexed each year; 2026: 40 % above TRY 5,3 million); 12,5 % to 48 % in Portugal
• 25 % vs 19 % corporate tax (Turkey 30 % for banks; Portugal 15 % on the first 50 000 € for SMEs, 17 % from 2028)
• 20 % vs 23 % standard VAT
• 5 % / 15 % — 10 % / 15 % — 10 % treaty ceilings on dividends, interest, royalties; pensions taxed where you live

Income tax, side by side

Because the lira brackets are re-indexed every January and the exchange rate moves, a euro comparison is a snapshot: what stays constant is the shape — Turkey reaches its 27 % and 35 % brackets at incomes that are modest in euro terms, Portugal reaches 34,9 % from 29 397 € and 48 % from 86 634 €, with 11 % contributions on top. For most Turkish professionals the two totals are close; Portugal is lighter on pensions and capital income, and has no currency risk in the tax base.

The 2005 convention

• Dividends (art. 10): 15 %, or 5 % when the beneficial owner is a company holding at least 25 % for two years. Interest (art. 11): 10 % on loans of more than two years, 15 % otherwise. Royalties (art. 12): 10 %. Portugal’s 28 % and Turkey’s domestic withholding fall to those rates on the treaty forms.
• Pensions (art. 18): taxable only in the residence state; public-service pensions (art. 19) in the paying state unless the pensioner is resident and national of the other.
• Employment (art. 15): where the work is done, with the 183-day exception. Property (art. 6, 13): where it stands. Shares: residence state.
• Relief: credit in both countries. The treaty page reads the articles.

Companies

Turkey: 25 % corporate tax (30 % for banks and financial companies), withholding on dividends to non-residents at the decree rate reduced by the treaty to 15 % or 5 %, VAT 20 / 10 / 1 %. Portugal: 19 % in 2026, 18 % in 2027, 17 % from 2028, 15 % on the first 50 000 € for SMEs, VAT 23 / 13 / 6 %. A Turkish company’s Portuguese subsidiary pays Portuguese IRC and sends dividends home at the treaty 5 %; a Turkish holding controlled from Lisbon risks Portuguese residence through effective management. See corporate tax and tax incentives.

Property and the residence permit

Turkish buyers meet Portugal’s IMT by bracket (0 % to 106 346 € on a main home, up to 8 %; 1 % from the first euro on other housing) plus 0,8 % stamp duty — and, since 25 May 2026, a flat 7,5 % IMT while still non-resident, refunded if they become resident within two years. IMI at 0,3–0,45 % of the tax value yearly, AIMI above 600 000 €. Property no longer qualifies for the golden visa (since October 2023); the 500 000 € fund route does, and a D7 or D2 visa serves most families. Turkey’s title-deed fee and annual property tax are the comparison.

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 — Turkish dividends under IFICI carry the treaty 15 % (5 % for companies) and nothing Portuguese. Pensions are excluded.

Before you move

Questions from Turkish clients