Inheritance tax in Portugal for expats is often misunderstood, because Portugal does not levy a standalone inheritance tax. Instead, inheritances and lifetime gifts fall within Portuguese stamp duty (Imposto do Selo), charged at 10% on gratuitous transfers, with a full exemption for a spouse or qualifying unmarried partner, children, grandchildren, parents and grandparents. The tax also only reaches assets treated as located in Portugal, such as Portuguese property and Portuguese bank accounts, so the result for a British family depends on who inherits and where the assets are, not only on where anyone lives. UK inheritance tax can still apply to the same estate, and there is no UK and Portugal inheritance tax treaty. This guide explains who pays Portuguese stamp duty on an inheritance, who is exempt, which assets are caught, how gifts are treated, how UK inheritance tax fits alongside it, and the filing deadlines that catch families out. It is general information, not personal tax or legal advice. Portuguese rules are taken from the Stamp Duty Code (Código do Imposto do Selo) as published on the Portuguese tax authority's Portal das Finanças and were reviewed on 27 October 2026; UK figures are for the 2026 to 2027 tax year, and all rules should be rechecked for the date of any death or gift.
Portugal abolished its old inheritance and gift tax with effect from 2004 (Decreto-Lei 287/2003) and now taxes gratuitous transfers, including inheritances and gifts, under stamp duty. Item 1.2 of the general table of the Stamp Duty Code charges 10% on the free acquisition of assets, and article 1 sets out what counts, including Portuguese property, registered vehicles, shares, securities, bank deposits and other money, business assets, and amounts paid on the winding up of a trust to beneficiaries who did not set it up, which is a specialist area. On a death, article 2(2)(a) makes the tax due from the estate, represented by the head of the estate (cabeça de casal), and from any legatees, but exemptions turn on each beneficiary's relationship to the deceased, so the same estate can produce tax for some beneficiaries and none for others. Rates do not rise with the size of the inheritance and there is no general nil rate band equivalent, although specific exemptions and exclusions apply, so the starting point for a non-exempt beneficiary is 10% of the taxable value of what they acquire from the Portuguese assets, under the statutory valuation rules. Our guide to tax in Portugal for expats explains how Portuguese tax residence is decided.
Article 6(1)(e) of the Stamp Duty Code exempts a spouse or unmarried partner in a de facto union (unido de facto), descendants and ascendants from the 10% charge on inheritances and gifts. In practice that covers husbands, wives, children, grandchildren, parents and grandparents. A de facto union is defined by Portuguese law (Lei 7/2001) and generally requires the couple to have lived together in conditions similar to marriage for more than two years. Eligibility depends on meeting, and being able to evidence, the legal conditions, so Portuguese legal advice is worth taking where this matters. Other beneficiaries may be taxed at 10% on what they receive from Portuguese assets, where no other exemption applies, including siblings, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, friends and stepchildren who have not been legally adopted, who are generally not treated as descendants, although family status is decided under the applicable law. Article 1(5) also lists receipts that are outside the 10% charge, subject to its exact wording, including life insurance proceeds, amounts in pension funds and retirement savings plans, social security death benefits, goods for personal or household use, customary gifts up to 500 euros (article 1(5)(d)) and, separately, gifts between spouses or de facto partners, descendants and ascendants up to 5,000 euros (article 1(5)(g)). These are general categories: the treatment of any insurance policy, pension or trust depends on the type of arrangement, how benefits are paid and the beneficiary's position, so it needs case specific Portuguese and UK advice.
Portuguese stamp duty on inheritances is territorial. Under article 4(3) and 4(4) of the Stamp Duty Code, it applies where the assets are treated as located in Portugal: property and other rights over assets in Portugal; assets registered in Portugal, such as cars; money and crypto assets deposited with banks and other institutions established in Portugal; shares in Portuguese companies and debts owed by Portuguese debtors, but only where the person acquiring them is domiciled in Portugal; and, on a death, cash and crypto assets that are not held with any institution, where the deceased was domiciled in Portugal. Under article 4(5), domicile for this purpose follows the Portuguese income tax residence rules in article 16 of the IRS Code. These situs rules are technical, so each asset should be checked. The practical effect is that a British retiree living in Portugal who inherits a house, savings and shares in the UK from a parent who lived in the UK will usually have no Portuguese stamp duty to pay on them, once each asset has been checked against these rules, which is a major difference from Spain, where a Spanish resident heir can be taxed on a worldwide inheritance. In the other direction, Portuguese property is within the territorial rules whatever the beneficiary's residence, so relatives living in the UK who inherit a property in Portugal are within Portuguese stamp duty on it, although children and other exempt relatives remain exempt from the 10% charge. Our guide to inheritance tax in Spain for expats explains how the Spanish rules differ.
A short, complimentary call with a cross-border planning specialist can clarify your options, with no obligation.
Gifts are taxed under the same item 1.2 at 10%, with the same family exemption and the same territorial rules, except that for gifts the domicile test generally looks at the person receiving the gift rather than the person giving it. Two points often surprise families. First, a gift of Portuguese property is also charged at 0.8% under item 1.1 of the general table, which applies to acquisitions of property by purchase or by gift, so a child receiving a Portuguese home as a gift will ordinarily pay 0.8% on its taxable value even though they are exempt from the 10% charge, and a non-exempt relative may face both charges. This 0.8% charge applies to gifts, not to property passing on death. Second, exempt gifts can still need to be declared to the tax authority, although article 1(5)(g) takes gifts between spouses or de facto partners, descendants and ascendants of up to 5,000 euros outside the tax altogether. A gift that is exempt in Portugal is not necessarily ignored in the UK: if the giver is within the scope of UK inheritance tax, an outright gift to an individual is usually a potentially exempt transfer, which can become chargeable if the giver dies within seven years, and other rules, such as those for gifts where the giver keeps a benefit, can also apply. Before making a gift, it is worth understanding how both countries would treat it.
There is no UK and Portugal inheritance tax treaty. GOV.UK lists UK inheritance tax agreements with Ireland, South Africa, the USA, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, plus older agreements with France, Italy, India and Pakistan, and Portugal is not among them. The new UK and Portugal double taxation convention, which entered into force on 29 December 2025 and has effect in the UK for income tax and capital gains tax from 6 April 2026, lists taxes on income and capital gains as the taxes covered, not inheritance tax. Both countries' rules therefore apply on their own terms. UK inheritance tax is charged on the estate of the person who died, normally at 40% (or 36% where enough of the estate is left to charity) on the value above the available nil rate bands (the basic nil rate band is £325,000 for 2026 to 2027, and a residence nil rate band and transferred allowances can apply in some cases), subject to exemptions and reliefs. UK situated assets are generally within UK inheritance tax wherever the deceased lived, subject to the detailed rules. Since 6 April 2025, whether non-UK assets, including a home in Portugal, are also within it depends on long-term UK residence: broadly, being UK resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years, with exposure continuing for between 3 and 10 tax years after leaving, depending on how long the person was UK resident, and with transitional rules for some people, so the position needs an individual calculation. These rules apply to deaths and transfers from 6 April 2025; earlier events follow the old domicile rules. Where Portuguese stamp duty is paid on Portuguese property that is also within UK inheritance tax, HMRC may give unilateral relief under section 159 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 for overseas tax of a similar character, limited to the UK tax on that property, and whether relief is due should be confirmed by a UK tax adviser. Our guide to UK inheritance tax for British expats explains the long-term residence rules in more detail, and our guide to inheritance tax on pensions from April 2027 covers the change to unused pension funds.
Under article 13 of the Stamp Duty Code, Portuguese property is generally valued for stamp duty at its tax registered value (valor patrimonial tributário, or VPT) at the date of death or gift, with other valuation rules where there is no registered value. The head of the estate must file a declaration of the death and the assets (the participação, on the official form Modelo 1) by the end of the third month after the month of death, under article 26(3), and under article 26(5) an extension of up to 60 days is available only for a justified and proven reason. Where there are Portuguese assets, a declaration is generally needed even if every heir is exempt, because the authority needs the details to register the transfer. Any tax is assessed by the authority and, under article 45, can be paid in full by the end of the second month after notification or, where it exceeds 1,000 euros, in up to 10 instalments of at least 200 euros, with interest for late payment. Heirs may need a Portuguese tax number (NIF) to deal with the Portuguese authorities and institutions, and banks and registries may ask for evidence of the declaration and of who the heirs are before releasing or transferring assets. Later on, under article 45 of the IRS Code, the value used for stamp duty, or the value that would have been used if the transfer was exempt, is generally the heir's acquisition value for Portuguese capital gains tax, which matters if the property is sold. Our guide to capital gains tax in Portugal for expats explains how gains are taxed.
Stamp duty is only one part of the picture. Portuguese succession law includes forced heirship rules, and the EU Succession Regulation allows a British national living in Portugal to make a valid choice of the law of their nationality in their will, subject to the Regulation's requirements. Succession law decides who inherits, and therefore which beneficiaries could be exempt, but it does not change the stamp duty rules themselves. Our guide to estate planning for Brits in Spain and Portugal covers wills, forced heirship and the nationality election. Points worth reviewing include who your heirs are and whether any are outside the exempt family group, whether an unmarried partner would meet the de facto union conditions, where your assets are held and how that affects which country can tax them, how life insurance, pensions and investments would pass, and whether UK inheritance tax could still apply under the long-term residence rules. Before acting, it is worth taking advice appropriate to the decision from suitably qualified Portuguese and UK tax and legal professionals and, where financial planning decisions are involved, a regulated financial adviser. Changes to ownership, gifts or beneficiaries can have tax, legal, control and family consequences that are hard to reverse, and should be judged on overall tax, cost and risk, not on stamp duty alone.
Families often hear that Portugal has no standalone inheritance tax and stop there. Close family are exempt, but a sibling, niece or unmarried partner who does not meet the rules may face 10% on Portuguese assets, and UK inheritance tax may still apply to the whole estate, depending on residence history, where the assets are and the reliefs available. It helps to list who your heirs are and where each asset sits before deciding whether anything needs to change.
Take this guide with you
Get the full guide as a PDF to read later or share, plus occasional updates when the rules covered here change.
No spam, just this guide and relevant updates. Unsubscribe any time.
Portugal taxes inheritances and gifts through stamp duty at 10%. Close family are exempt, but siblings, nephews, nieces, friends and stepchildren who have not been adopted generally pay 10% on Portuguese assets.
Even where every heir is exempt, the head of the estate generally still has to declare the death and the Portuguese assets by the end of the third month after the month of death, and a gift of Portuguese property to a child still carries 0.8%.
Under the UK long-term residence rules, someone who was UK resident for many years can remain within UK inheritance tax on worldwide assets, including a Portuguese home, for up to 10 tax years after leaving.
The exemption covers partners in a de facto union, which generally requires more than two years of living together. If the conditions cannot be met and evidenced, 10% Portuguese stamp duty may apply, and a partner who is neither a spouse nor a civil partner does not usually qualify for the UK spouse or civil partner exemption.
A gift to a child can be exempt from the 10% charge in Portugal, but if the giver is within UK inheritance tax, an outright gift is usually a potentially exempt transfer that can become chargeable if they die within seven years.
The stamp duty value of an inherited property is generally the heir's acquisition value for Portuguese capital gains tax, so the value declared on inheritance can affect the tax on a later sale.
The point people miss is that leaving the UK does not end UK inheritance tax straight away. Depending on their residence history, someone who was UK resident for many years may stay within it for several years after moving to Portugal, so the Portuguese exemption for children is only half of the answer. Both countries' rules need checking for the actual dates.
Illustrative example only, not a real client. This example is simplified and fictional, applies the Portuguese Stamp Duty Code and the UK long-term residence rules as stated assumptions for 2026, ignores currency movements and valuation detail, and is not a guarantee of any outcome. David's father was UK resident in every tax year for more than 20 years until he moved to the Algarve, six years before he died, where he was Portuguese tax resident. He left his Portuguese home and Portuguese bank account to David, who lives in the UK, and a cash legacy from the Portuguese account to his niece. His UK savings and investments passed to David as well. David assumed that because his father had left the UK, UK inheritance tax would not apply, and that because Portugal has no inheritance tax there was nothing to do there.
A review by a Portuguese tax specialist and a UK tax adviser, coordinated through a regulated financial adviser, explained that, on these assumptions, as the son of the deceased David is exempt from the 10% Portuguese stamp duty on the home and bank account, but that the niece is not exempt and her legacy, paid from a Portuguese bank account, would generally be within the 10% charge. It also flagged that the head of the estate would need to file the declaration of death and Portuguese assets by the end of the third month after the month of death, and that both beneficiaries might need Portuguese tax numbers. On the UK side, because of that residence history, his father could still be a long-term UK resident for inheritance tax, potentially for up to 10 tax years after leaving, subject to confirmation of his exact residence record, so his worldwide estate, including the Algarve home, could be within UK inheritance tax, subject to the nil rate bands and reliefs. Whether UK relief would be available for Portuguese stamp duty on the niece's legacy was left for the UK tax adviser to confirm. The value used for the home in Portugal would also generally become David's acquisition value for Portuguese capital gains tax if he later sold it.
Illustrative figures and outcomes only: this does not assess suitability or recommend any course of action, and no tax outcome, liability or saving is guaranteed. David understood that the Portuguese and UK positions had to be dealt with separately, that the Portuguese deadline ran from his father's death, and that UK inheritance tax could apply even though his father had left the UK. Whether any changes to how he held what he inherited would be appropriate was a separate question, needing its own suitability assessment and tax advice, and advice may conclude that no changes are suitable. Different facts, such as a shorter period of UK residence or different heirs, could produce a very different result.
Illustrative example, not a real client.
Clarity Global Wealth helps British families with links to Portugal understand the questions to discuss about Portuguese stamp duty and UK inheritance tax before they act, including which heirs would be exempt in Portugal and which would not, which assets Portugal could tax, how UK inheritance tax could still apply under the long-term residence rules, how life insurance, pensions and investments might pass, and the deadlines that apply after a death or gift. We can arrange a free introduction to regulated financial planning; the introduction is an initial conversation, not advice, and places you under no obligation to proceed with advice or any product, so you can review your position with a regulated financial adviser before making changes to savings, investments or how assets are held, where advice is appropriate. Any charges for advice would be explained to you before you proceed. The value of investments can fall as well as rise, tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and can change, tax reliefs may change and their value depends on individual circumstances, and advice may conclude that no changes are suitable. Clarity Global Wealth does not provide tax, legal or accounting advice, and adviser comments in this guide are general information, not personal recommendations. Portuguese stamp duty declarations, wills and probate are work for qualified Portuguese tax advisers and lawyers, so where that is needed we coordinate with qualified specialists.
Related guides: Expat Estate Planning for Brits in Spain and Portugal, Tax in Portugal for Expats in 2026, Capital Gains Tax in Portugal for Expats, Dividend and Interest Tax in Portugal for Expats, Inheritance Tax in Spain for Expats, UK Inheritance Tax for British Expats and Inheritance Tax on Pensions from April 2027.
This guide is provided for general information only and reflects our understanding of the rules as at the date of publication. It is not personal financial, investment, pension or tax advice, and should not be relied upon as such. Rules and tax treatment can change and depend on your individual circumstances and country of residence. You should always seek regulated advice specific to your situation before taking action.
Portugal does not levy a standalone inheritance tax, but inheritances and gifts can be charged to stamp duty at 10%. Spouses, qualifying de facto partners, children, grandchildren, parents and grandparents are exempt, and the tax only applies to assets treated as located in Portugal.
Children and other descendants are exempt from the 10% stamp duty on inheritances under article 6(1)(e) of the Stamp Duty Code. A declaration of the death and Portuguese assets is generally still required, and a lifetime gift of Portuguese property to a child carries stamp duty of 0.8%.
Generally not. Portuguese stamp duty on inheritances applies only to assets treated as located in Portugal, so UK property, UK bank accounts and UK company shares inherited by a Portuguese resident are generally outside it, although each asset should be checked against the situs rules. UK inheritance tax may still apply to the estate under UK rules.
No. GOV.UK does not list Portugal among the countries with a UK inheritance tax agreement, and the 2025 UK and Portugal double taxation convention covers income and capital gains, not inheritance tax. HMRC may give unilateral relief under section 159 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 for overseas tax of a similar character on Portuguese property, limited to the UK tax on that property, which a UK tax adviser should confirm.
A partner in a de facto union is exempt, which generally requires the couple to have lived together in conditions similar to marriage for more than two years under Lei 7/2001. Eligibility depends on meeting and evidencing the legal conditions. A partner who does not meet them is generally taxed at 10% on Portuguese assets they inherit.
The head of the estate must file the declaration of the death and assets by the end of the third month after the month of death. Under article 26(5), an extension of up to 60 days is only available for a justified and proven reason. Any tax is then assessed and, under article 45, can be paid in full or, above 1,000 euros, in instalments.
Book a complimentary consultation to discuss your pensions, investments and cross-border financial planning.
A short call to understand your situation and discuss the planning options available to you.
Complimentary 30-minute consultation
Schedule a ConsultationInheritance tax in Spain for expats in 2026: who pays, state rates, regional reliefs, UK estates inherited by Spanish residents and the six month deadline.
Relocation & Residency TaxDividend and interest tax in Portugal for expats in 2026: the 28% rate, aggregation, the 35% rate on Jersey and Isle of Man income, ISAs and UK tax.
Relocation & Residency TaxWealth tax in Spain for expats in 2026: the 700,000 euro allowance, regional rules, the solidarity tax above 3 million, UK pensions and the 60% cap.
