Portugal Tax Residence: the rule, how days are counted, examples

Summary

You are tax resident in Portugal for a year when you stay more than 183 days, in a row or not, in any 12-month period that starts or ends in that year. A day counts when you sleep in Portugal that night. You can also be resident with fewer days if, on any day of that period, you have a home in Portugal that you appear to keep and use as your usual home. A resident pays Portuguese income tax on income from the whole world. The tax authority, Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira, applies the rule.

Limit: More than 183 days, so the 184th night makes you resident
Period: Any 12 months that start or end in the tax year
A day counts when: You sleep in Portugal that night, for a full or a part day
Second test: A home in Portugal that you appear to keep as your usual home
Law: Personal income tax code (Código do IRS), article 16
Run by: Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira (AT)

Who it applies to

People who spend the winter or long parts of the year in Portugal and live elsewhere the rest of the time.
Remote workers who move to Portugal in the middle of a year and want to know from which date they are resident.
People who leave Portugal and need to know when their Portuguese tax residence ends.
Owners or long-term renters of a house in Portugal who visit for only a few weeks a year.
People with ties to two countries who need the day count to apply a tax treaty.

The rule

Article 16 of the personal income tax code (Código do IRS) names who is resident. Under paragraph 1, letter a, you are resident for a year if you stayed in Portugal more than 183 days, in a row or not, in any 12-month period that starts or ends in that year. The period is not the calendar year. A stay that runs from September to March can make you resident although you spent fewer than 184 days in each of the two calendar years.

Paragraph 2 says what a day is: any day, full or part, that includes sleeping in Portugal. So the law counts nights. A visit with no overnight stay does not add a day.

Letter b of paragraph 1 is the home test. If you stayed fewer days but, on any day of the same 12-month period, you had a home in Portugal in conditions that suggest you intend to keep it and live in it as your usual home, you are resident. The law gives no number of days for this test. The tax authority looks at the facts, for example a long rental contract, your family living there, or the address you give to public bodies.

Portugal splits the year. Under paragraph 3 you become resident from the first day of your stay in Portugal. There is one exception: if you were resident on any day of the year before, you are resident from 1 January. Under paragraph 4 you stop being resident from your last day of stay. Paragraphs 14 and 16 can keep you resident for the whole year of leaving in two cases: when you stayed more than 183 days in that year and later received income that Portugal would have taxed, or when you become resident again in the following year.

Letters c and d add two groups who are resident without any day count: crew of ships or aircraft operated by a body based in Portugal, on 31 December, and people who work abroad in public service for the Portuguese State. If another country also treats you as resident, the tax treaty between the two countries decides which one comes first.

Why it exists

Portugal taxes residents on their income from the whole world and non-residents only on income from Portugal. The state needs a clear line between the two groups. The 12-month period stops people from placing a long stay across the new year to stay under 183 days in each calendar year. The home test covers people who really live in Portugal but travel a lot.

Counting the days

You count the nights you slept in Portugal, in every period of 12 months that starts or ends in the tax year. The count is of days in Portugal, not days away.

List every night you slept in Portugal, on the mainland, in Madeira or in the Azores.
Choose the tax year you want to test, for example 2026.
Find the 12-month period with the most nights that starts in 2026 or ends in 2026. The start can be any day, not only 1 January.
If that period has 184 nights or more, you are resident for 2026, from the first day of the stay unless you were resident in 2025.
If it has 183 nights or fewer, check the home test: did you have a home in Portugal that you appeared to keep as your usual home?
Keep proof of the nights: tickets, rental contracts, card payments.

How Countr counts it. Countr counts a day for Portugal Tax Residence when you are in Portugal at midnight, which matches the law's rule about sleeping there. It adds up the last 12 months and warns you 14 days before you reach 183. The card is simpler than the law in two ways. It shows the 12 months that end today, while the law tests every 12-month period that starts or ends in the tax year, so open the tracker to see past periods where you went over; those stay on your record. Countr also cannot see the home test. A home in Portugal that you plan to keep as your usual home can make you resident with fewer days than the card shows.

Track Portugal Tax Residence on your phone.

Countr finds your past trips in your photos and keeps counting from there.

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Examples

A winter stay across two calendar years

Ana arrives on 1 September 2025 and sleeps in Portugal every night until she leaves on 16 March 2026. That is 196 nights: 122 in 2025 and 74 in 2026. She is under 184 in each calendar year. But the 12 months that start on 1 September 2025 hold 196 nights, and that period starts in 2025 and ends in 2026. Ana is resident for both years, from 1 September 2025 until her last day of stay.

Few nights, but a home

Ben works on ships and sleeps in Portugal only 60 nights in 2026. He rents a flat in Porto on a three-year contract, his wife and children live in it, and he gives it as his address. The day count is far under 183. The home test in article 16, paragraph 1, letter b can still make him resident, because he has a home that he appears to keep and use as his usual home.

A late arrival and a day visit

Carla lands in Lisbon at 23:00 on 3 May and flies out at 07:00 on 4 May. She slept in Portugal on the night of 3 May, so that is 1 day, although she was in the country for 8 hours. On 10 May she drives in from Spain at 09:00 and drives back at 20:00. She did not sleep in Portugal, so this visit adds no day.

Exceptions

Crew of ships or aircraft are resident if, on 31 December, they serve a body with its residence, head office or place of management in Portugal, with no day count.
People who work abroad in public service for the Portuguese State are resident in Portugal. Members of the European Parliament are included.
Portuguese nationals who move their tax residence to a country on Portugal's list of low-tax places stay resident in the year of the move and the 4 years after it, unless they show a good reason, such as temporary work for an employer based in Portugal.
Tax residence is tested for each person. One member of a couple can be resident while the other is not.
A tax treaty can make you resident of the other country for treaty purposes although you pass the Portuguese test. The treaty then limits what Portugal may tax.
The special regime for non-habitual residents closed to new people from 1 January 2024 under Law 82/2023, with a transition for people who already had it or had started their move.

Common misconceptions

“I am safe if I stay under 183 days in each calendar year.”: The period is any 12 months that start or end in the year, not 1 January to 31 December. A stay from autumn to spring can pass 183 nights in one 12-month period and make you resident for both years.
“Every day I set foot in Portugal counts.”: The law counts a day only if it includes sleeping in Portugal. A day visit with no night does not count. A very short stay that includes a night does.
“Without 184 days I cannot be resident.”: The home test has no minimum number of days. A home in Portugal that you appear to keep and use as your usual home is enough.
“If I become resident in October, Portugal taxes my whole year.”: You normally become resident from the first day of your stay. Only if you were also resident on some day of the year before does residence start on 1 January.

Questions and answers

Does the day I arrive in Portugal count?

Yes, if you sleep in Portugal that night. The law counts any full or part day that includes an overnight stay. The hour of arrival does not matter.

Does the day I leave Portugal count?

No, unless you also sleep in Portugal that night. The night before you leave counts for the day before. If you fly out in the morning, the day of the flight adds nothing.

Do nights in Madeira or the Azores count?

Yes. Madeira and the Azores are Portuguese territory, so a night there is a night in Portugal for this rule.

What happens when I pass 183 days?

You are tax resident and Portugal can tax your income from the whole world, normally from the first day of that stay. You should register your address with the tax authority and file a Portuguese tax return.

Can I be tax resident in Portugal and another country in the same year?

Yes. Each country applies its own law, so both can treat you as resident. If the two countries have a tax treaty, its tie-breaker rules name one country, looking at your permanent home, your personal and economic ties, where you usually live and your nationality.

When does my tax residence end after I leave Portugal?

It ends from your last day of stay. In two cases you stay resident for the whole year: you spent more than 183 days in Portugal that year and later received income Portugal would tax, or you become resident again in the next year.

Does owning a holiday house make me resident?

Not by itself. The home test asks for a home in conditions that suggest you intend to keep it and live in it as your usual home. A house that you use for a few weeks of holiday is not the same thing, but the tax authority looks at all the facts.

Sources

News about this rule

Portugal now asks for 7 or 10 years of residence for citizenship

Other rules for Portugal

Portugal Permanent Residence — Longest Time Away 729 days away in one trip
Portugal Permanent Residence — Total Time Away 910 days away in any 3 years
Portugal Temporary Residence — Longest Time Away 180 days away in one trip
Portugal Temporary Residence — Total Time Away 240 days away in any 3 years

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This page explains the rule and how the days are counted. It is not legal or tax advice. The authority decides each case on its own facts.