How crypto is taxed in Portugal (2026 guide)

Portugal used to be known as a crypto tax haven. That changed with the State Budget for 2023 (Lei n.º 24-D/2022), which created a dedicated regime for crypto-assets in the IRS (imposto sobre o rendimento das pessoas singulares, Portuguese personal income tax) from 1 January 2023. The regime is still in force in 2026, and the State Budget for 2026 (Lei n.º 73-A/2025) did not change it. What did change in 2026 is visibility: under new EU reporting rules, crypto platforms now report their Portuguese-resident users to the tax authority.

This guide explains how the rules work for individuals who are tax resident in Portugal, for the 2025 income year (filed in 2026) and the 2026 income year (filed in 2027). If you are not sure whether you are resident, start with our guide to Portuguese tax residency.

What counts as a crypto-asset

For tax purposes a crypto-asset (criptoativo) is any digital representation of value or rights that can be transferred or stored electronically using distributed ledger technology (such as a blockchain) or similar technology. That covers Bitcoin, Ether, altcoins and stablecoins.

Two important carve-outs:

• NFTs are excluded. The law excludes crypto-assets that are unique and not fungible with other crypto-assets, so the crypto rules below do not apply to genuine NFTs. How an NFT sale is taxed instead depends on the facts, so take advice if NFTs are a meaningful part of your activity.
• Crypto-assets that are securities (for example tokenised shares) are taxed under the normal rules for securities, not under the crypto regime. The 365-day exclusion described below does not apply to them.

The three ways crypto income can be taxed

Portuguese IRS sorts income into categories. Crypto can land in three of them:

Aggregation (englobamento) means adding the income to your other income and taxing it at the progressive IRS rates. For 2026 these run from 12.5% to 48% (the top rate applies above €86,634 of taxable income). Aggregating only makes sense if your marginal rate is below 28%, and if you choose it for one Category G gain, it applies to your other Category G gains for which the option exists.

Capital gains: the 365-day rule

This is the rule most private investors care about.

• Held less than 365 days: the gain (sale value minus acquisition value and the necessary costs of buying and selling, such as fees) is taxed at 28%.
• Held 365 days or more: the gain is excluded from tax, and losses on those sales cannot be used either.
• Crypto bought before 2023: the holding period before 1 January 2023 counts, so coins bought before 2022 were already past 365 days when the regime started.

FIFO, per platform

When you sell, the coins you bought first are treated as sold first (FIFO, "first in, first out"). If you hold crypto with more than one exchange or custodian, FIFO is applied separately for each one. Keep complete purchase records for every platform and wallet, because the tax authority may substitute market value if it considers the declared sale value wrong.

Crypto-to-crypto swaps

If you swap one crypto-asset for another (BTC for ETH, or a coin for a stablecoin), there is no tax at the time of the swap. The coins you receive take over the acquisition value of the coins you gave up. Tax is calculated later, when you dispose of crypto for euros or another currency, or for goods or services.

A trap for long-term holders: the law carries over the acquisition value, but it does not say expressly whether the holding period carries over too. In a 2025 binding ruling the tax authority accepted that converting a long-held coin into a stablecoin only as a step towards cashing out to euros did not restart the clock, but rulings bind the authority only for the specific facts. If your 365-day exclusion depends on a swap, check with a tax adviser before you sell.

Losses

Short-term losses are only useful if you opt to aggregate, in which case net Category G losses can be carried forward for the following five years. Losses are ignored where the counterparty is subject to a clearly more favourable tax regime (a "blacklisted" jurisdiction).

Illustration (round numbers, for explanation only)

1. In March 2025 you buy 1 BTC for €40,000 on an EU exchange.
2. In June 2025 you swap half of it for ETH. No tax: the ETH gets an acquisition value of €20,000.
3. In December 2025 you sell the ETH for €26,000, paying €100 in fees. You held it (counting from March) for less than 365 days, so the gain of €5,900 is taxed at 28%: about €1,652, declared in your 2025 return filed in 2026.
4. In May 2026 you sell the remaining 0.5 BTC for €30,000. Held more than 365 days, so the €10,000 gain is excluded. You still declare it in Anexo G1 of your 2026 return.

When the favourable rules do not apply

Both the swap deferral and the 365-day exclusion are switched off when you, or the person or entity paying you, are not tax resident in an EU or EEA state or in a country that has a double tax treaty or a tax information-exchange agreement with Portugal. In practice this matters for trades with counterparties or platforms based in such jurisdictions; the IRS form has a separate table (Anexo G, quadro 18B) for these cases, regardless of the holding period.

Leaving Portugal: the exit charge

If you stop being Portuguese tax resident, you are treated as having sold all your crypto at market value on that date. Coins held for 365 days or more remain excluded, but any gain on coins held for less than that is taxed. Plan the timing of a move abroad with this in mind.

Staking, lending and other crypto income

Any form of remuneration from crypto operations, such as staking rewards or interest from lending, is capital income (Category E). It is taxed at 28%, with the option to aggregate, and there is no withholding tax on it.

The key point: if you are paid in crypto, there is no tax at that moment. The coins are taxed as a capital gain when you later dispose of them. Only rewards received in euros, other currency or other non-crypto form are taxed in the year you receive them. Again, the deferral does not apply where either party is resident outside the EU/EEA in a jurisdiction with no treaty or information-exchange agreement.

Crypto as a business: mining, validation and trading

The IRS Code treats issuing crypto-assets, including mining, and validating crypto transactions through consensus mechanisms as commercial activities (Category B). Other crypto operations can also be business income if they are carried on as a business rather than as private investment; there is no numerical test, so how often you trade, how organised you are and whether it is your main income all matter.

If you are in the simplified regime (annual Category B turnover up to €200,000), the taxable portion is:

• 15% of income from crypto operations;
• 95% of income from mining.

That taxable amount is then added to your other income and taxed at progressive rates. Income from crypto is recognised when you sell the crypto, and receiving crypto in exchange for crypto is again not taxed at that point. Ceasing the activity or leaving Portugal counts as a sale. Under organised accounting (contabilidade organizada), normal accounting-based rules apply. Business activity also brings obligations such as registering the activity with the tax authority and social security, covered in our freelancer guide.

Stamp duty on crypto

Stamp duty (imposto do selo) applies to crypto in two cases:

• Gifts and inheritances: 10% of the value of crypto transferred free of charge, where the crypto is held with a Portuguese-based entity, the deceased was domiciled in Portugal, or (for gifts) the recipient is domiciled in Portugal. Spouses and unmarried partners (unidos de facto), descendants and ascendants are exempt, but the transfer must still be reported.
• Fees and commissions: 4% on commissions charged by or through crypto-asset service providers, where the provider or the client is domiciled in Portugal. This is normally collected by the provider.

How to declare crypto in your IRS return

Crypto is declared in your annual IRS return (Modelo 3), filed between 1 April and 30 June of the following year. The main annexes:

For each sale you need the acquisition and sale dates and values, fees, the platform's tax number or country, and the country of the counterparty. Whether a gain made through a foreign exchange belongs in Anexo G or Anexo J is not always clear-cut; follow your accountant's advice and be consistent. Our IRS return guide covers the rest of the filing process.

Exchange reporting: DAC8 is now in force

Portugal transposed the EU's DAC8 directive (Directive (EU) 2023/2226) through Lei n.º 26/2026 of 3 June 2026, with effect from 1 January 2026. Crypto-asset service providers must report information on their Portuguese-resident users and their transactions to the tax authority by 31 May each year for the previous calendar year, so the first reports, covering 2026, are due by 31 May 2027. Fines for providers range from €2,000 to €22,500, and the data is exchanged with other EU tax authorities. Expect the tax authority to cross-check these reports against your return.

How an accountant can help

Crypto is one of the areas where a specialist pays for themselves fastest. A certified accountant (contabilista certificado) or tax adviser can:

• rebuild your cost basis with FIFO per platform from exchange exports and wallet histories;
• decide whether your activity is private investment (Category G) or business (Category B);
• check whether aggregation lowers your bill and handle loss carry-forwards;
• plan the timing of sales and of a move abroad around the 365-day rule and the exit charge;
• check whether NHR or IFICI status changes anything for you (see our IFICI and NHR guide);
• complete Anexos G, G1, J, E or B correctly.

If you trade actively, earn staking income or mine, you can compare accountants specialised in IRS and ask them upfront how they handle crypto records.

This guide is general information based on the rules in force on 2 October 2026, not tax advice.