- Gains and losses on crypto held for 365 days or more are excluded from personal income tax (IRS). Gains on crypto held for less than 365 days are taxed at 28%, or you can opt to add them to your other income.
- Swapping one crypto for another is not taxed at that moment. Tax arises when you dispose of crypto for money or for something other than crypto.
- Staking, lending and similar rewards are capital income taxed at 28%, but rewards paid in crypto are only taxed when you later sell them.
- Ceasing to be a Portuguese tax resident counts as a sale. The 2027 State Budget had not been submitted to parliament on 7 October 2026.
This page covers personal income tax (IRS) for private individuals who hold crypto in Portugal. When and where to declare it is on filing and deadlines, and the rules for businesses are on business tax. It is general information, not tax advice.
How crypto is taxed
A special tax regime for crypto-assets has applied since 1 January 2023 (Law 24-D/2022). The personal income tax code (Código do IRS, CIRS) defines a crypto-asset as any digital representation of value or rights that can be transferred or stored electronically using distributed ledger technology or similar technology. Unique crypto-assets that are not fungible with other crypto-assets (NFTs) are excluded from that definition. Since Decree-Law 97/2026 of 20 May 2026, the crypto rules sit in paragraphs 20 to 25 of article 10 of the CIRS (before: 17 to 22); the content did not change. The tax authority’s leaflet of December 2025 still uses the old numbers.
| Income (2026) | Tax treatment | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Gain on crypto held 365 days or more | Excluded from tax (losses do not count either) | G (capital gains) |
| Gain on crypto held less than 365 days | 28% autonomous rate, or aggregation with your other income at the general rates | G (capital gains) |
| Crypto that qualifies as a security | 28% or aggregation, whatever the holding period | G (capital gains) |
| Staking, lending and other remuneration | 28% special rate, or aggregation; paid in crypto: taxed only on a later sale | E (capital income) |
| Mining, validating, issuing; professional trading | Business income at the general rates | B (business income) |
| General IRS rates (2026) | 12.5% up to €8,342 of taxable income, rising to 48% above €86,634 | Article 68 CIRS |
These rules work as follows:
- Gain. The gain is the sale value minus the acquisition value, and you may deduct the necessary expenses you actually paid to buy and sell, such as commissions. If the AT thinks the declared value differs from the real one, it presumes the market value on the date of sale.
- Holding period. Time you held crypto before 1 January 2023 counts toward the 365 days (article 220 of Law 24-D/2022).
- First in, first out. The units you bought first are treated as sold first. If you hold crypto with more than one provider, the rule applies separately at each provider (article 43(6)(g) and (7) CIRS).
- Losses. Losses on crypto held for less than 365 days can be carried forward for five years if you opt to aggregate. Losses do not count when the counterparty is in a jurisdiction on Portugal’s list of clearly more favorable tax regimes.
- Counterparty condition. The 365-day exclusion and the rule for swaps only apply if both you and the other party are resident in the EU or EEA, or in a country that has a tax treaty or an information exchange agreement with Portugal (article 10(24) CIRS).
A worked example
Our own example, using the rules above: a Portuguese tax resident buys 0.1 bitcoin for €5,000 on a platform in the EU and pays a €10 commission. She sells it for €7,000 and pays another €10 commission.
| Step | Sold after 200 days | Sold after 400 days |
|---|---|---|
| Sale value | €7,000 | €7,000 |
| Acquisition value plus expenses | €5,000 + €20 = €5,020 | €5,020 |
| Gain | €1,980 | €1,980 |
| Tax at the 28% autonomous rate | €554.40 | €0 (excluded) |
| Where it goes in the return | Annex G, table 18 | Annex G1, table 7 |
Had she swapped the bitcoin for another crypto-asset instead of selling it, there would be no tax yet: the new crypto would take over the €5,020 acquisition value. If her total taxable income is low, aggregating the gain at the general rates can cost less than 28%; the choice is made in the return. This is an illustration, not a tax calculation for your situation.
Swaps between crypto-assets
Under article 10(23) CIRS, when the consideration for a sale of crypto-assets takes the form of crypto-assets, there is no taxation; the crypto you receive takes the acquisition value of the crypto you gave. In binding information no. 28969 (31 October 2025), the AT applied this to a swap into a stablecoin (USDC) followed by an immediate sale for euros: only the conversion to euros was taxed, and if the original asset had been held for 365 days or more, the gain was excluded. A binding ruling covers one taxpayer’s case, with its conditions.
Crypto that are securities
Crypto-assets that qualify as securities follow the general rules for securities. The gain is taxable whatever the holding period, at 28% or by aggregation, and goes in Annex G, table 9, code G25. If you held them for less than 365 days and your taxable income, including the gain, reaches the top bracket of article 68 (above €86,634 in 2026), aggregation is mandatory.
Mining, trading and pay in crypto
- Mining, validating and issuing. The law treats operations related to issuing crypto-assets, including mining and validating transactions through consensus mechanisms, as commercial activities (category B). Under the simplified regime, for business income up to €200,000 a year, 15% of the income from crypto operations and 95% of the income from mining is taxable, added to your other income at the general rates. Under the simplified regime the income counts when the crypto is sold; payment in crypto defers it.
- Trading. Buying and selling for yourself is taxed as capital gains (category G). In binding information no. 28122 (16 March 2026), the AT added that using trading bots does not change this by itself, but that an organized business structure, habitual activity, services to third parties and trading as a main source of income would point to category B.
- Pay in crypto. Income in kind is valued at its money equivalent under article 24(1) CIRS. The AT leaflet gives only this valuation rule and does not set out the tax category for each case.
Staking, DeFi, airdrops and NFTs
- Staking and lending. Any form of remuneration from operations with crypto-assets is capital income (category E), taxed at 28% with an option to aggregate. Platforms do not withhold tax on it, so you declare it yourself. If the reward is paid in crypto, there is no tax when you receive it: the reward is taxed as a capital gain when you later dispose of it for money or something other than crypto (article 5(11) CIRS). This deferral, too, depends on the EU/EEA or treaty-country condition.
- Liquid staking and DeFi deposits. In binding information no. 28122, the AT treated liquid staking of Ether and deposits of crypto in blockchain protocols that pay rewards for the liquidity as category E income, “assemelhando-se como de um depósito”. Rewards received in crypto are taxed as capital gains when sold.
- Airdrops. We found no AT publication on airdrops.
- NFTs. Unique, non-fungible crypto-assets are outside the crypto definition of the CIRS, so the crypto rules above, including the 365-day exclusion, do not apply to them. The AT has not published how it taxes them instead.
Moving to or from Portugal
You are a Portuguese tax resident for a year if you stay more than 183 days, consecutive or not, in any 12-month period that starts or ends in that year, or if you stay less but have a home there that suggests you intend to keep it as your habitual residence (article 16 CIRS). Residence ends on your last day in Portugal.
- Leaving. Losing Portuguese tax residence is treated as a sale of the crypto you hold (article 10(25) CIRS). The taxable amount is the market value on the date you cease to be resident minus the acquisition value and acquisition expenses. In the AT’s annex instructions, crypto held for 365 days or more on that date goes in Annex G1, table 7 (excluded), and shorter holdings in Annex G, table 18. The law sets no deferral for moves within the EU.
- Arriving. In binding information no. 28122, the AT confirmed for a person moving to Portugal that later sales of crypto held for 365 days or more are excluded, and that the holding period before 2023 counts. The law contains no special rule that resets the acquisition value when you arrive.
- Special regimes. The incentive for scientific research and innovation (IFICI, article 58-A of the Tax Benefits Statute) gives a 20% rate on qualifying employment and business income for new residents. The article does not mention crypto gains.
Stamp duty on gifts and inheritances
Free transfers of crypto, such as gifts and inheritances, are subject to 10% stamp duty (Imposto do Selo, item 1.2 of the general table) when the crypto is held with an entity established in Portugal, the deceased was domiciled in Portugal or, for a gift, the recipient is domiciled in Portugal. Spouses and unmarried partners, descendants and ascendants are exempt, but an exempt transfer may still have to be declared on form Modelo 1: a provider may only release inherited or gifted crypto against proof that the duty was paid or, if an exemption applies, that this form was filed (article 63-A of the Stamp Duty Code). How heirs can actually reach the crypto is covered in this guide to crypto inheritance in the European Union.
Upcoming changes
On 7 October 2026 the government had not yet submitted its proposal for the 2027 State Budget (OE2027) to parliament: the parliament’s budget page still showed only the 2026 budget. Budget laws have changed the crypto rules before (2023), so we will check the proposal once it is published. The 2026 State Budget (Law 73-A/2025) did not change the crypto rules, and Decree-Law 97/2026 only renumbered them.
Sources
- Autoridade Tributária: Criptoativos, conceito fiscal e tributação (December 2025) (last checked October 2026)
- Autoridade Tributária: Código do IRS, artigo 10.º (last checked October 2026)
- Autoridade Tributária: Código do IRS, artigo 16.º (last checked October 2026)
- Autoridade Tributária: Código do IRS, artigo 43.º (last checked October 2026)
- Autoridade Tributária: Código do IRS, artigo 68.º (last checked October 2026)
- Autoridade Tributária: Código do IRS, artigo 72.º (last checked October 2026)
- Autoridade Tributária: Informação vinculativa, processo 28969 (last checked October 2026)
- Autoridade Tributária: Informação vinculativa, processo 28122 (compra, detenção e staking) (last checked October 2026)
- Autoridade Tributária: Ofício Circulado 20269/2024 (Modelo 3 annexes) (last checked October 2026)
- Autoridade Tributária: Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais, artigo 58.º-A (last checked October 2026)
- Autoridade Tributária: Lei n.º 73-A/2025 (State Budget 2026) (last checked October 2026)
- Assembleia da República: Orçamento do Estado (last checked October 2026)
This page is general information, not tax advice. Rules and rates change, so check the official sources above before you act.