Portugal tax incentives for Turkish investors: IFICI, RFAI, SIFIDE, visas

For companies

• SME rate: 15 % IRC on the first 50 000 € of taxable profit for small and medium companies (EU definition, group-wide), 19 % above in 2026, falling to 17 % in 2028.
• RFAI (Regime Fiscal de Apoio ao Investimento): a tax credit of up to 30 % of qualifying investment in eligible regions (25 % above 15 million), usable against IRC over ten years, with IMT, IMI and stamp-duty exemptions on the investment property; conditional on job creation and keeping the investment.
• SIFIDE II: a credit of 32,5 % of R&D expenditure plus 50 % of the increase over the previous two years, certified by the ANI, carried forward eight years.
• Patent box: 85 % of income from patents, designs and software copyright excluded from taxable profit.
• Contractual incentives for projects above 3 million euros negotiated with AICEP, with credits of 10 % to 25 % of the investment.
• Madeira International Business Centre: 5 % IRC for licensed companies creating jobs on the island, until 2028.
• Start-up certification (Lei n.º 21/2023): gives staff IFICI eligibility and founders a deferred, half-taxed treatment of stock-option gains.

• 15 % / 19 % IRC for SMEs in 2026; 25 % in Turkey
• RFAI up to 30 %, SIFIDE 32,5 % + 50 %, patent box 85 %
• IFICI: 20 % personal tax for ten years on listed activities; foreign income exempt with progression
• 500 000 € in qualifying funds for the investment residence permit — property no longer qualifies

For people: IFICI

The Incentivo Fiscal à Investigação Científica e Inovação replaced NHR (closed on 1 January 2024). It applies to people who become resident without having been resident in Portugal in the previous five years and who earn income from listed activities: higher-education teaching and research; qualified posts under contractual incentives or RFAI; highly qualified professions in listed industrial and service companies exporting at least 50 %; qualified jobs in companies recognised by AICEP or IAPMEI; R&D staff eligible for SIFIDE; certified start-ups; activities in the Azores and Madeira. It gives 20 % on the Portuguese income from the activity for ten years and exempts foreign income (salaries, business, dividends, interest, rents, gains) with progression; pensions are excluded. Registration by 15 January of the year after arrival.

For a Turkish investor who takes a qualifying post in the company they set up — a certified start-up, an RFAI investor, an AICEP-recognised project — IFICI taxes the Portuguese salary at 20 % and leaves Turkish dividends at the treaty’s 15 % (5 % if held through a company) with nothing Portuguese on top.

Residence routes and their tax side

• D2 visa (entrepreneur): a Portuguese company with a real activity; the founder is tax resident here, IFICI possible if the company qualifies.
• Investment residence permit (ARI, “golden visa”): since October 2023 property and capital transfers no longer qualify; the routes are 500 000 € in qualifying investment or venture funds, 500 000 € in research, 250 000 € in cultural projects, or job creation. Holders need only spend seven days a year in Portugal and can remain Turkish tax residents — fund income is then taxed under the treaty rules, not as a resident.
• D7 visa: passive income; ordinary residence and taxation.

What Turkey does on its side

Turkish-source income of a Portuguese resident stays Turkish-taxed at the treaty rates — 15 % on dividends (5 % for companies), 10 % or 15 % on interest, 10 % on royalties, full tax on Turkish property — and Portugal credits it or, under IFICI, exempts it. Turkish incentives for exporters and technology zones apply to the Turkish entity regardless.

Steps

Questions