01
Start the process
Tell us where you are moving, when you are leaving and the basic facts of your Portuguese departure.
Portuguese departure, without the full-service bill
Save €1,000s
in professional fees.
Get clarity for €447.
Stop paying accountants and lawyers premium hourly rates to organise paperwork you can prepare efficiently. ExitPortugal walks you through the facts the AT actually looks at, organises your evidence, compiles a residency position file, and puts it in front of an experienced reviewer before you change your morada fiscal and file your final part-year Modelo 3.
Guided preparation / Residency file compiled / Human legal review
Your next chapter, organisedExample
🇵🇹 Portugal🇦🇪 Dubai
One move. One organised file.
Your documents, without the guesswork.
Example checklist3 of 4 added
🏠
New-country leaseA home for your next chapter
✓🪪
Residence documentYour status abroad
✓🏦
Bank statementYour everyday financial ties
✓🚗
Driver's licenceAdd it when available
PENDINGKnow what you have. See what's next.Less scattered paperwork. More room for what's next.
Built around your move
Where are you headed?
🇦🇪 Dubai (UAE)🇲🇹 Malta🇨🇾 Cyprus🇬🇧 UK (non-dom / FIG)🇵🇦 Panama🇵🇾 Paraguay
Need a new residence too?
Leaving Portugal is one step.
Establishing somewhere new is the next.
Exit Global can help evaluate practical residency pathways in Dubai, Malta, Cyprus and UK and beyond. Some routes can be completed relatively quickly depending on your circumstances. Each destination has its own site — click through.
🇦🇪
Dubai (UAE)
Explore residency pathways ↗
🇲🇹
Malta
Explore residency pathways ↗
🇨🇾
Cyprus
Explore residency pathways ↗
🇬🇧
UK (non-dom / FIG)
Explore residency pathways
🇵🇦
Panama
Explore residency pathways ↗
🇵🇾
Paraguay
Explore residency pathways ↗
Immigration eligibility, processing times and government requirements vary by route and applicant.
The €447 guided departure package
Do the simple work once.
Pay experts for judgment — not administration.
Traditional full-service departure engagements get expensive when accountants, lawyers and valuers each bill hourly for gathering the same facts. Software handles the organisation and drafting; experts handle the parts that require judgment.
€447Prepared residency file + written review
Start the process →02
Upload your documents
Add evidence of your new life abroad and the Portuguese ties you have changed, ended or retained.
03
Answer the questionnaire
Work through structured questions covering housing, family, work, banking, Segurança Social, crypto and share holdings, NHR or IFICI status and the other connections the AT weighs.
04
We compile your residency file
The software organises your answers and evidence into a structured departure file: your position under article 16.º CIRS, your partial-year dates, the four-year tax-haven tail and any crypto or article 10.º-A exposure.
05
Expert review + written evaluation
Our team reviews the file and evidence, provides a written evaluation of your residency position and flags what to fix before you change your address and file.
06
You decide how to proceed
You receive the prepared file and review. You decide whether to file on that basis, request a binding ruling (informação vinculativa), or obtain specialist advice first.
No open-ended hourly meter.
The core guided preparation and review is €447. Complex tax, valuation or specialist work is scoped and quoted separately, only if your situation requires it.
Your information is sensitive. We treat it that way.
Documents are stored privately when you explicitly save them. We use restricted access and do not sell or share your information.
01 / Understand the rules
There is no NR73 in Portugal.
Here is what replaces it.
Portugal has no departure form and no request for an opinion on non-residency. You change your morada fiscal, file a part-year Modelo 3 and self-assess against article 16.º of the CIRS — and the AT keeps the right to disagree later. Getting the file right before you leave is what protects you.
Article 16.º CIRS
More than 183 days, or a home you intend to keep.
You are a Portuguese tax resident in a year if, in any 12-month period beginning or ending in that year, you spent more than 183 days in Portugal, consecutive or not — or if, having spent less, on any day of that period you kept a dwelling in conditions that suggest a current intention to maintain and occupy it as your habitual residence. Any day, complete or partial, that includes an overnight stay counts.
Residency is assessed person by person, not by household. Under n.º 4, residency ends on the last day of your stay in Portugal — so the year you leave is a partial-residency year, subject to the exceptions below.
AT: CIRS artigo 16.º (Residência) ↗The tails
Four years for tax-haven moves. A whole-year rule if you leave late.
Two rules in the same article catch leavers. First, a Portuguese national who moves their residence to a country, territory or region on Portugal's list of clearly more favourable tax regimes stays a Portuguese resident in the year of the move and the following four years, unless they prove the move was for legitimate reasons such as a temporary posting by an employer domiciled in Portugal. The tail stops if you later become resident in a country that is not on the list.
Second, if you spent more than 183 days in Portugal in the year you leave and then earn income abroad in the rest of that year, n.º 14 treats you as resident for the whole year — unless that income is taxed in an EU/EEA state with tax cooperation, or in another state at a rate of at least 60% of the Portuguese rate (n.º 15). And if you regain residency in the year after you leave, you are resident for all of that year (n.º 16).
AT: CIRS artigo 16.º n.os 6, 7, 14–16 ↗If you want certainty
No non-residency opinion. A binding ruling is the closest thing.
The AT issues a certificate of tax residence for people who are resident; it does not issue a certificate or opinion that you have ceased to be one. What you can do is request an informação vinculativa under article 68.º of the Lei Geral Tributária: filed electronically with a full description of the facts, answered within 150 days (75 days on the fee-paying urgent track), and binding on the AT for the facts you give. The facts and evidence therefore need to be assembled carefully first.
AT: LGT artigo 68.º (Informações vinculativas) ↗The departure-year return
One Modelo 3, two periods, one set of dates.
Residents are taxed on worldwide income; non-residents only on Portuguese-source income; in a partial-residency year each rule applies to its own period (article 15.º CIRS). On the Modelo 3 you file between 1 April and 30 June of the following year, Quadro 8C asks for the exact dates of your period of residency. Foreign income for the resident period goes in Anexo J. After that you file as a non-resident (Quadro 8B) only if you still have Portuguese-source income that is not settled by final withholding — rent, or a gain on Portuguese property, for example.
AT: IRS — principais prazos em 2026 ↗Why this matters
A flight changes
your location.
The facts tell the rest.
Portuguese tax obligations depend on residency. Residents report worldwide income at progressive rates; non-residents report Portuguese-source income only, mostly at flat rates of 25% or 28% — or 35% when the income flows to a listed tax haven. The AT records the date you change your morada fiscal, but article 16.º is decided on days, a dwelling and intention, not on a form.
Read article 16.º CIRS on the AT's site ↗Where is your home?
A Portuguese dwelling you keep in conditions suggesting you intend to occupy it as your habitual residence makes you resident on its own — even below 183 days. What you did with it is the heaviest fact in the file.
Where is your family?
Residency is assessed individually, so a spouse or children staying in Portugal does not make you resident by itself — but it is the first thing an inspector will ask about a home you kept.
What does daily life look like?
Overnight stays, work, Segurança Social, bank accounts, your address on the Cartão de Cidadão and your registered morada fiscal tell the story article 16.º is asking about.
02 / A simple way forward
From scattered documents
to a clear next step.
You don't need everything on day one. Start with what you know and keep track of the gaps.
01
Tell the story of your move
Choose your destination and record the key facts, dates and Portuguese ties.
02
Build your document file
Keep new-country evidence and changes to Portuguese ties in separate, labelled sections.
03
Get reviewed before you file
Our team reviews your residency file and evidence, provides an advisory opinion and recommends revisions before you change your address, file your Modelo 3 or request a binding ruling.
Guided preparation. Human review.
You do the groundwork.
Our team reviews the final file.
You should not have to start from a blank page, or pay a professional to chase every document. Build the file yourself; have it reviewed before you rely on it.
A reviewed residency file
Our team reviews your position under article 16.º, your partial-year dates, your supporting documents and departure narrative, provides an advisory opinion and recommends revisions.
A human review of the facts and evidence, not just a completed checklist.
Less administration. Lower preparation costs.
You gather documents and answer the guided questions. We focus professional time on reviewing your prepared file rather than assembling it from scratch.
Designed to cost less than having a firm manage every preparation task.
Specialists for the complex parts
Have a company, a share exchange or merger behind you, a large crypto position, NHR or IFICI status, or rental property? We can connect you with contabilistas certificados and tax lawyers for the pieces that need them.
The right specialist for the work your situation actually requires.
A more focused way to get there
Do not pay full-service rates
for paperwork you can organise.
Complex Portuguese departures can run into thousands of euros in combined accounting and legal fees once a tax-haven destination, an article 10.º-A deferred gain, a crypto portfolio or an NHR suspension is in play.
This refers to broader, multi-specialist engagements, not residency preparation alone. Actual fees and savings vary.
Beyond the residency question
No general exit tax —
but two departure charges and a four-year tail.
Portugal does not tax individuals on a deemed disposal of their assets when they leave. There are two exceptions. Under article 10.º n.º 25 CIRS, losing Portuguese residency is treated as a sale of crypto-assets that are not securities — and the 365-day exclusion and crypto-for-crypto deferral do not apply where you are not tax-resident in an EU/EEA state or a jurisdiction with a treaty or exchange-of-information agreement. Under article 10.º-A, gains you deferred in a tax-neutral share exchange, merger, demerger or contribution of assets become taxable in the year you leave; if you move within the EU/EEA you can elect in that year's return to pay immediately, on disposal, or in five equal annual instalments, with guarantees possible. Then the tail: a Portuguese national moving to a listed tax haven stays resident for the year of the move and four more.
AT: CIRS artigo 10.º-A (Perda da qualidade de residente) ↗CONTABILISTA CERTIFICADO
Tax analysis and filings
A Contabilista Certificado registered with the Ordem dos Contabilistas Certificados can model your partial-year Modelo 3, the crypto deemed-disposal, an article 10.º-A election, non-resident withholding on what stays behind and the cessação de atividade if you were self-employed.
ADVOGADO FISCALISTA
Rulings, disputes and representation
A tax lawyer registered with the Ordem dos Advogados can draft an informação vinculativa request, act as your representante fiscal, and handle a residency dispute or a retroactive address correction with the AT.
Prepare it yourself. Get it reviewed. Bring in specialists when needed.
Start my guided departure →Team review is a separate, agreed professional engagement. Our advisory opinion is not a determination by the AT.
03 / Know what to gather
Two sides of the move.
One practical checklist.
These are suggested evidence categories, not a universal AT document requirement. Include what's relevant to your situation.
Your new country
Establishing your life abroad
- Lease or proof of housingNames, address, dates and the living arrangement.
- New driver's licenceIf issued and applicable to your situation.
- Residence or immigration documentThe visa or permit that applies to your status — and whether it is permanent.
- Local bank statementEvidence of an account in your new country.
Other useful context: employment, utilities, health coverage and travel records.
Portugal
Documenting what changed
- Sale, lease or letting of your Portuguese homeExplain what happened to it and whether it remains available to you; a dwelling kept for habitual use is a residency trigger on its own.
- Morada fiscal changed to your foreign addressCartão de Cidadão holders change it through gov.pt or a Cartão de Cidadão desk; everyone else on the Portal das Finanças with proof of foreign residence, within 60 days when the change affects resident status.
- Representante fiscal or electronic notificationsOutside the EU/EEA you must appoint a representative in Portugal or adhere to electronic notifications within 15 days of registering the foreign address; the fine is €75 to €7,500.
- Cessação de atividade and Segurança SocialIf you were self-employed, file the declaração de cessação de atividade within 30 days; employers report the end of employment to Segurança Social by the 10th of the following month. Your NISS stays on file.
- Bank, health and licence updatesUpdate your bank to non-resident status, tell the SNS and your pension provider, and be able to explain any Portuguese driving licence or accounts you keep.
Keeping a Portuguese bank account does not by itself make you a resident. See the actual tests in article 16.º ↗
Still waiting on a document? Mark it pending and keep going.
Start my departure file — €447 →Your file grows as your move does.
04 / When you're ready
You prepare here.
You notify the AT.
There is no departure form — but there are four things the AT expects you to do, and they have deadlines. This app does not connect to the Portal das Finanças.
AT: Morada — how and when to change your tax address ↗01
Change your morada fiscalCartão de Cidadão holders: through gov.pt or at a Cartão de Cidadão desk, which updates the AT automatically. Others: Portal das Finanças → Registo Contribuinte › Identific › Alteração Morada/Singulares, with a document proving residence abroad, within 60 days when the change turns you into a non-resident. A confirmation code is posted to the new address.
02
Appoint a representante fiscal — or opt for electronic notificationsRequired if your new country is outside the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, within 15 days of registering the foreign address. Self-employed people still subject to VAT must appoint a VAT-registered representative regardless.
03
Close activity if you were self-employedFile the declaração de cessação de atividade within 30 days of ceasing (article 112.º n.º 3 CIRS), and let your employer's cessation report reach Segurança Social.
04
File the part-year Modelo 3 — and keep the fileBetween 1 April and 30 June of the year after you leave: Quadro 8C with your residency dates, Anexo J for foreign income of the resident period, any crypto deemed-disposal and any article 10.º-A election. The AT can question residency years later; keep the evidence.
Good questions. Clear answers.
Before you
get started.
You can organise your evidence before deciding how far to take it.
Will your team review my final file?
Yes. Under an agreed review engagement, our team reviews your residency file and supporting package, provides a written advisory opinion and recommends revisions. That is our opinion — not an AT determination or an informação vinculativa.
Is there a Portuguese equivalent of Canada's NR73?
No. Portugal has no departure form and no request for an opinion on non-residency. You change your morada fiscal, file a part-year Modelo 3 and self-assess under article 16.º CIRS. The AT's residency certificate only confirms that someone is resident. If you want the AT bound to a position, the route is an informação vinculativa under article 68.º LGT. Article 68.º LGT ↗
Is there an exit tax?
Not a general one — Portugal has no deemed disposal of an individual's shares, funds or property on departure. Two narrow charges exist: loss of residency is treated as a sale of crypto-assets (article 10.º n.º 25 CIRS), and gains deferred under a tax-neutral share exchange, merger, demerger or asset contribution become taxable in the year you leave (article 10.º-A), with immediate, on-disposal or five-instalment payment if you move within the EU/EEA. Article 10.º-A ↗
I hold crypto. What happens when I leave?
Article 10.º n.º 25 treats the loss of Portuguese residency as a sale of crypto-assets that are not securities. Coins held 365 days or more are normally excluded from gains — but that exclusion, and the crypto-for-crypto deferral, do not apply where you are not tax-resident in an EU/EEA state or a jurisdiction with a treaty or exchange-of-information agreement with Portugal. The destination therefore changes the answer; model it before you go. Article 10.º CIRS ↗
I am Portuguese and moving to a low-tax country. Am I really resident for four more years?
If the destination is on Portugal's list of jurisdictions with a clearly more favourable tax regime, article 16.º n.º 6 keeps you resident for the year of the move and the four following years unless you prove legitimate reasons, such as a temporary posting by an employer domiciled in Portugal. The tail ends if you become resident in a country that is not on the list. Non-nationals are not caught by this rule. Article 16.º n.os 6–7 ↗
I keep a flat and a bank account in Portugal. Does that matter?
The bank account is one fact among many. The flat is different: a dwelling kept in conditions suggesting you intend to occupy it as your habitual residence makes you resident under article 16.º n.º 1 b) even if you spend few days in Portugal. Letting it on a genuine lease changes that picture. If you keep it and let it, the rent stays taxable in Portugal as a non-resident and you still file a Modelo 3 each year. Non-resident rates, article 72.º ↗
What about Segurança Social, my NISS and my pension record?
Registration with Segurança Social is made once and lasts for life; your NISS and contribution record stay on file. Contributions stop when your Portuguese employment or self-employment ends — the employer reports the cessation by the 10th of the following month, and the self-employed file their own cessação de atividade with the AT within 30 days. What you have accrued is not lost by leaving; how it is paid abroad depends on your destination and any social-security agreement. Segurança Social guia prático ↗
What if I come back — and what happens to my NHR or IFICI status?
Returning in the year after you leave makes you resident for that whole year (article 16.º n.º 16). NHR status suspends automatically when you cease residency and reactivates if you return within the original ten-year window; the regime closed to new entrants from 1 January 2024, with transitional registration under Lei n.º 82/2023. IFICI likewise resumes for the remaining years. Former residents who return after five years abroad may qualify for the ex-resident regime in article 12.º-A, which excludes 50% of employment and business income for five years. AT NHR FAQs ↗
The next chapter starts with a plan
Get clarity before you spend
thousands more on professional fees.
Start my departure file — €447 →Dubai (UAE) / Malta / Cyprus / UK (non-dom / FIG) / Panama / Paraguay
The Exit network
One process. Every country.
Each site covers one departure, in that country's own rules. The destination sites cover where you're going. All reviewed by the same team at Exit Global.
Leaving
🌐Exit GlobalPortfolio home🇨🇦Exit CanadaNR73 + departure file🇺🇸Exit USAExpatriation + Form 8854🐻Exit CaliforniaFTB residency🗽Exit New YorkDomicile + statutory residency🇬🇧Exit the UKStatutory Residence Test🇮🇪Exit IrelandOrdinary residence tail🇫🇷Exit FranceArt. 167 bis exit tax🇧🇪Exit BelgiumSpecial departure return🇳🇱Exit NetherlandsM-form + conserverende aanslag🇪🇸Exit SpainArt. 95 bis + quarantine rule🇮🇹Exit ItalyAIRE + black-list presumption🇩🇰Exit DenmarkFraflytterskat🇳🇴Exit NorwayUtflyttingsskatt🇸🇪Exit SwedenTen-year share rule🇦🇺Exit AustraliaCGT event I1🇿🇦Exit South AfricaSection 9H exit charge🇩🇪Exit Germany§ 6 AStG Wegzugsbesteuerung🇦🇹Exit Austria§ 27 (6) Wegzugsbesteuerung🇫🇮Exit FinlandThree-year rule🇧🇷Exit BrazilSaída definitiva🇯🇵Exit JapanExit tax on ¥100m+ assets🇮🇱Exit IsraelCentre of life + s.100A🇳🇿Exit New Zealand325-day rule + IR886🇵🇹Exit PortugalArt. 16 CIRS residency🇰🇷Exit South KoreaExit tax on large shareholders🇦🇷Exit ArgentinaPérdida de residencia + baja🇮🇳Exit IndiaSection 6 residency + RNOR🇨🇭Exit SwitzerlandWegzug + pension withholding
Arriving
🇵🇦Move to PanamaTerritorial tax, Friendly Nations🇦🇪Move to DubaiNo personal income tax🇲🇹Move to MaltaRemittance basis, EU🇨🇾Move to Cyprus60-day rule, non-dom🇵🇾Move to ParaguayTerritorial tax, fast residency🇺🇾Move to UruguayTax holiday for new residents🇨🇷Move to Costa RicaTerritorial tax🇧🇸Move to BahamasNo income tax🇵🇹Move to PortugalD7, D8, Golden Visa, IFICI🇹🇭Move to ThailandLTR visa, remittance basis🇲🇾Move to MalaysiaMM2H, territorial tax🇮🇩Move to IndonesiaSecond Home visa, Bali🇬🇪Move to GeorgiaForeign income exempt, 1% SBS🇵🇷Move to Puerto RicoAct 60 for US citizens🇮🇹Move to ItalyFlat tax, 7% pensioner regime🇬🇷Move to GreeceGolden Visa, non-dom flat tax🇭🇰Move to Hong KongTerritorial, no CGT🇸🇬Move to SingaporeForeign income exempt, no CGT