The tax benefit seeks to attract and retain Portuguese and skilled immigrants. See the requirements and how to apply for this bonus.
A new decree law was approved in Portugal on December 29, 2023 and promises to attract qualified young people to the European country’s job market from this year onwards. Now qualified Portuguese and immigrants, i.e. those with higher education degrees, will be able to take advantage of a “salary premium”, a kind of bonus that can vary between 693 euros and 1,500 euros per year – depending on the level of training.
“The aim of this tax break is for Portugal to retain young people who want to live and work in the country and who have an undergraduate or master’s degree. This initiative isn’t really new, the government had already mentioned it, because we’ve noticed for a long time that many young people do all their academic training here and then end up leaving for other European countries, and we’re already an aging population,” says Isabel Comte, a Portuguese lawyer at Martins Castro Consultoria Internacional and a university professor at several institutions, including the University of Coimbra.
Who is entitled to this wage premium?
To obtain the salary premium, Portuguese citizens or immigrants must meet certain requirements:
Be up to 35 years old;
Have a higher education degree: undergraduate, master's or doctorate - recognized in the country;
Have a fixed residence and live in Portugal for more than 6 months;
Have a work permit in Portugal;
Be up to date with tax payments;
Have a recent degree. For example: if the undergraduate or master's course lasted 3 years, but it's been 4 years since the person graduated, they won't be entitled. The length of time since graduation must be equal to or less than the length of the course.“The idea of this benefit is to keep and encourage qualified young people to cooperate with the Portuguese job market and consequently with the local economy, so we are looking for professionals who have recently graduated,” says Comte.
With these requirements, the lawyer emphasizes that citizens need to apply for the award through the government portal, which should make the link available later this month. “This tax benefit can be applied for by both Portuguese and immigrants, as well as Brazilians, as long as they meet the requirements. Young graduates will certainly have the best chance of benefiting from this new law,” says the lawyer.
How long will this tax benefit last?
The salary premium will be annual and will last for the duration of each professional’s training. A civil engineer in Portugal, for example, takes 3 years to graduate, so they will be entitled to an annual salary of 693 euros for 3 years.
“If this engineer has a specialization or doctorate, he can receive more, but remember that he cannot exceed 3 years of training,” says the lawyer.
In Portugal, it’s common to do an undergraduate degree and then a master’s degree, which they call an “integrated master’s degree” and you can count on cumulative benefits, says the lawyer. “If you do 3 years of undergraduate and 3 years of master’s, you will be entitled to receive 693 euros for three years and more than a thousand euros for the master’s course.”
Professionals from all areas will be able to take advantage of the benefits, but the Portuguese market, according to the lawyer, is in great need of technology professionals and doctors who are able to have their diploma recognized in Portugal and who speak other languages, especially English.