Inheritance tax in Portugal (2026): stamp duty, heirs' steps and selling an inherited property

Is there inheritance tax in Portugal?

Not as a separate tax. Portugal abolished its old inheritance and gift tax (imposto sobre as sucessões e doações) from 2004 (Decree-Law 287/2003) and now charges inheritances to stamp duty (imposto do selo). The rate is a flat 10% under item 1.2 of the Stamp Duty Code’s General Table. There are no bands and no tax-free allowance.

Close family pay nothing: article 6(e) of the Stamp Duty Code exempts the spouse, the unmarried partner (unido de facto), descendants and ascendants.

Heir	Legal heir without a will?	10% stamp duty (item 1.2)	0.8% stamp duty (item 1.1)
Spouse	Yes	Exempt	Not charged on death
Unmarried partner (unido de facto)	No, only if named in a will	Exempt	Not charged on death
Children, grandchildren	Yes	Exempt	Not charged on death
Parents, grandparents	Yes, if no descendants	Exempt	Not charged on death
Brothers and sisters, nephews, nieces	Yes, if no spouse, descendants or ascendants	10% of the VPT of their share	Not charged on death
Stepchildren	No, only if named in a will	10% (a stepchild is not a descendant in law; not separately confirmed by the tax office)	Not charged on death
Friends and unrelated people	Only through a will	10%	Not charged on death

The tax applies whenever the property is in Portugal, wherever the deceased or the heirs lived. Legacies to companies and other bodies within Portuguese corporate tax (IRC), even exempt ones, are outside stamp duty. The “legal heir” column comes from the Civil Code, explained below.

What value is taxed?

For property, the taxable value is the tax registration value (valor patrimonial tributário, VPT) shown on the caderneta predial (tax record) at the date of death (Stamp Duty Code, article 13). It is not the market value. Debts secured on the property at the date of death, such as a mortgage, are deducted from the value. Personal and household goods, life-insurance payouts and state pension or death benefits are outside the tax altogether (tax office leaflet, December 2025).

When and how is the 10% paid?

After the declaration, the tax office sends each liable heir a notice. Under article 45 of the Stamp Duty Code you can:

• pay the whole amount by the end of the second month after the notice, with a discount of 0.5% a month on the instalments you pay early; or
• if the tax is over €1,000, pay in equal instalments: at most 10, each at least €200, the first due in the second month after the notice and each later one six months after the previous.

A nephew inheriting a flat with a VPT of €120,000 owes €12,000, payable in one go or in 10 instalments of €1,200 over four and a half years. A son inheriting the same flat pays nothing.

Common myths about inheritance tax in Portugal, including the 0.8%

Myth	The rule
“Exempt heirs still pay 0.8% on inherited property”	The 0.8% (item 1.1) is for purchases and gifts, such as a parent giving a house to a child in life. On death it applies only if one heir takes more than their share in the partilha, when the excess also bears IMT (IMT Code, article 2(5)(c))
“The tax is on market value”	It is on the VPT at the date of death (article 13), usually well below market value
“Exempt heirs don’t need to declare anything”	The Modelo 1 declaration is compulsory for every estate with Portuguese assets
“When we sell, our purchase price is what Mum paid”	It is the VPT used, or that would have been used, for stamp duty at death (IRS Code, article 45)

What are the steps and deadlines after a death?

Only the stamp duty and capital gains dates are legal deadlines; the rest are typical timings.

Step	Who does it	Where	Deadline or typical timing	Cost
Portuguese tax number (NIF) for each heir	Each heir, or a representative	Tax office, consulate or via a representative	Before the declaration	Varies if a representative is used
Tax number for the estate (NIF de herança indivisa)	Cabeça-de-casal only	Portal das Finanças or tax office	Before the declaration	Free
Stamp duty declaration (Modelo 1 do Imposto do Selo)	Cabeça-de-casal	Portal das Finanças, e-balcão or tax office	End of the 3rd month after the month of death (article 26)	Free; 10% tax for non-exempt heirs
Habilitação de herdeiros (who the heirs are)	Heirs	Notary or Balcão das Heranças	Typically within weeks; gov.pt advises starting within 3 months	€150 at the Balcão das Heranças
Registration of the property in the heirs’ names	Heirs	Land registry, Balcão das Heranças or notary	Before the sale	Included in the €425 Balcão package with partilha
Partilha (division), optional before a sale	All heirs	Notary or Balcão das Heranças	No legal deadline	€425 package; IMT and 0.8% on any excess share
Sale: CPCV, then deed (escritura)	All heirs, or attorneys	Notary, lawyer or Casa Pronta	Commonly 1–3 months between the two	Agent commission, energy certificate
Capital gains declared (Modelo 3, Annex G)	Each heir, for their share	Portal das Finanças	1 April–30 June of the year after the sale	Tax at progressive rates on 50% of the gain

What must be declared to Finanças, and by when?

The death must be declared on the stamp duty return (Modelo 1 do Imposto do Selo, the “participação”) by the end of the third month after the month of death. A death on 10 June means a deadline of 30 September. The head of the tax office can extend this by up to 60 days if you show good reason. The declaration is compulsory even when every heir is exempt. It is only skipped if the deceased left no assets in Portugal.

It is filed by the cabeça-de-casal, the person who administers the estate until it is divided. The order is set by article 2080 of the Civil Code: the surviving spouse, then the executor, then the closest legal heirs, then heirs named in the will, with the eldest breaking a tie.

The return lists every heir and every Portuguese asset, with the death certificate, the will if any, and the IDs and NIFs of all heirs. A non-resident cabeça-de-casal can request the estate’s tax number through a tax representative using the e-balcão service.

Until the estate is divided, the cabeça-de-casal also pays the IMI (annual property tax). An undivided estate whose Portuguese urban properties have a combined VPT above €600,000 is also liable to AIMI (the additional property tax) unless the cabeça-de-casal files a declaration naming the heirs and their shares between 1 and 31 March, and the heirs confirm it between 1 and 30 April.

What is the habilitação de herdeiros?

The habilitação de herdeiros is the official document that says who the heirs are. Banks, the land registry and the buyer’s lawyer will all ask for it. It does not divide anything.

You can get it at a notary or at a Balcão das Heranças (the state inheritance desk run by the registries agency IRN, in land registries and some Lojas do Cidadão). The Balcão charges €150 for the habilitação alone, or €425 with the division and registration of the property, plus €50 if the heirs are married to each other; registration fees are added per asset (gov.pt). Notary fees vary.

Who inherits if there is no will?

Where Portuguese law governs the estate (see the next section), the Civil Code (article 2133) calls heirs in classes. A class inherits only if there is no one in the class above.

Class	Who	How the estate is shared
1	Spouse and descendants	Equal shares per head, but the spouse never gets less than a quarter (article 2139)
2	Spouse and ascendants (no descendants)	Spouse two-thirds, ascendants one-third (article 2142)
—	Spouse alone (no descendants or ascendants)	Spouse takes everything (article 2144)
3	Brothers and sisters, and their descendants	Shared between them (article 2145)
4	Other relatives to the fourth degree (e.g. cousins)	Nearest degree first
5	The Portuguese State	If there is no one else

An unmarried partner is not on this list. A partner inherits only under a will, and is then exempt from stamp duty.

A will cannot freely leave everything. Portuguese law reserves a forced share (legítima) for the spouse, descendants and ascendants:

Surviving family	Forced share (cannot be willed away)	Free to leave by will
Spouse and children	Two-thirds (article 2159)	One-third
Spouse alone	One-half (article 2158)	One-half
Children, no spouse	One-half (one child) or two-thirds (two or more)	The rest
Spouse and parents	Two-thirds (article 2161)	One-third

Which country’s law decides who inherits?

For deaths since 17 August 2015, Portugal applies the EU Succession Regulation (650/2012). Its main rules:

• Default: the law of the country where the deceased was habitually resident at death governs the whole estate, including the Portuguese house (article 21).
• Choice of law: anyone can choose the law of their nationality in a will (article 22). This works for UK, US and other non-EU nationals, because the Regulation applies whichever country’s law it points to (article 20).
• Forced heirship: if Portuguese law applies, the forced shares in the table above apply to the whole estate.

One trap for UK residents: where the deceased lived in England and made no choice of law, the Regulation points to English law. English conflict rules send immovable property to the law of where it is located. Article 34 allows that referral back, so Portuguese law, and forced heirship, may apply to the Portuguese house. A will that expressly chooses English law avoids this. Take advice if the will leaves the house away from a spouse or children.

If the deceased lived in an EU country that applies the Regulation (not Ireland or Denmark), its notary or court can issue a European Certificate of Succession, which the Portuguese land registry must accept (article 69). French heirs: see our French guide.

Do you need a UK grant of probate?

A UK grant does not transfer Portuguese property. The Portuguese steps (habilitação, stamp duty return, registration) are always needed.

But if the only will is an English will, Portuguese lawyers report that notaries usually want to see the UK grant of probate, apostilled and translated, before the habilitação. Some also ask for a legal opinion on English law. Waiting for the grant often means missing the three-month stamp duty deadline, so file the declaration on time and add the will later. A separate Portuguese will avoids most of this.

Do heirs inherit the deceased’s debts?

Not beyond what you inherit. The estate pays the funeral, the deceased’s debts and any legacies first (Civil Code, article 2068), and an heir’s liability never exceeds the value of what they receive (article 2071). If you accept outright, you must prove the estate is insufficient; accepting “with the benefit of inventory” (a benefício de inventário) limits creditors to the listed assets. An heir can instead refuse (repúdio), with the same formality as selling the property (article 2063). A mortgage is repaid from the sale price at the deed.

Can the heirs sell before dividing the estate?

Yes. Until the partilha, the estate is a herança indivisa (undivided estate). No single heir owns the house. It can be sold only if every heir agrees and signs the promissory contract (CPCV) and the deed (escritura), in person or through a power of attorney.

What the notary or Casa Pronta desk will need:

1. The habilitação de herdeiros.
2. The property registered in the heirs’ names “in common”. The Balcão das Heranças and notaries can do this registration.
3. Proof that the stamp duty return was filed and any tax paid.
4. Consent of each heir’s spouse, where the heir’s marriage is not under separation of property (Civil Code article 1682-A). How this applies to a foreign marriage depends on the law of that marriage; ask the notary early.
5. The usual seller documents: caderneta predial, certidão permanente, energy certificate.

If one heir refuses to sell, the others cannot force a sale of the house directly. Any heir can ask for the estate to be divided through an inventário (at a notary or in court).

Selling first and dividing the money is usually simpler:

	Sell before the partilha	Divide first, then sell
Who signs the sale	Every heir, and spouses where needed	Only the heir who received the house
Paperwork	Habilitação + registration in common	Habilitação + partilha deed + registration
Capital gains	Each heir declares their share	The new owner declares the whole gain; any extra share taken counts as a new purchase at the partilha date
Taxes on the division	None	IMT and 0.8% stamp duty on any excess share

Can one heir sell just their share of the inheritance?

Yes, and since 2025 it is taxed differently. An heir can sell their whole share of the estate (quinhão hereditário) instead of the house itself. The other heirs have a right of first refusal: they must be offered it on the same terms and have two months to decide once told (Civil Code, article 2130).

In ruling 7/2025 of 29 April 2025, the Supreme Administrative Court decided that selling an inheritance share is not a sale of rights over property, so the gain is not subject to IRS, even when the estate is only property. The tax authority adopted this view (Ofício-Circulado 20281/2025).

The limit is strict. In binding ruling 29067 (October 2025), three siblings sold a flat from an undivided estate; because the deed sold the flat, not their shares, the gain was taxed normally. In practice the buyer of a share is usually a co-heir. Take advice before structuring a sale this way.

How is capital gains tax worked out on an inherited property?

Each heir is taxed on their own share. The tax authority confirmed in binding ruling 27052 (October 2024) that each heir declares their percentage of the gain, even if all the money goes to one of them.

The rules that differ from an ordinary sale:

Item	Rule for inherited property
Acquisition value	The value used, or that would have been used, for stamp duty on the inheritance, normally the VPT at the date of death (IRS Code, article 45)
Acquisition date	The date of death, not the date of the partilha and not the date the deceased bought
Inflation coefficient	Applies only if you sell at least 24 months after the death
Pre-1989 exemption	Does not carry over. It only protects the surviving spouse’s own half if the couple bought before 1989
Extra share taken in the partilha	Treated as a separate acquisition at the date of the partilha
Stamp duty paid on the inheritance	Some accountants deduct it as an acquisition expense; we found no tax office ruling confirming this

Everything else follows the normal rules. Non-residents are taxed on 50% of the gain at the progressive rates of 12.5% to 48%, with the rate set by their worldwide income. See the capital gains guide.

Worked example 1: two children sell a villa inherited in 2021

A mother dies in 2021. Her two children, both living abroad, each inherit half of her Algarve villa. The VPT at death was €150,000. They are her children, so no stamp duty. They sell in 2026 for €480,000. In 2024 they paid €20,000 for a new roof, with invoices. Each has €12,000 of other worldwide income in 2026. We use the 2025 inflation coefficient for 2021 (1.16), because the 2026 table is not out yet.

Step	Calculation	Amount (€)
Sale price		480,000
Acquisition value adjusted	150,000 × 1.16	−174,000
Roof (within 12 years, invoiced)		−20,000
Agent commission	480,000 × 5% × 1.23 (VAT)	−29,520
Energy certificate		−250
Total gain		256,230
Each child’s share	256,230 ÷ 2	128,115
Taxable (50%)	128,115 × 50%	64,057.50
Income for setting the rate	64,057.50 + 12,000	76,057.50
Tax on that total (2026 table)		25,479.93
Average rate	25,479.93 ÷ 76,057.50	33.50%
Portuguese tax per child	64,057.50 × 33.50%	≈ 21,460

Together the children pay about €42,900, roughly 9% of the sale price. Had the base been a market value of €400,000 at death, the gain would have been far smaller.

Each child declares their share on the Portuguese return (Modelo 3, Annex G) between 1 April and 30 June 2027. There is no withholding at the deed.

Worked example 2: a nephew pays stamp duty, then sells

An aunt dies in 2023 and leaves her Lisbon flat to her nephew, who lives in the UK. The VPT at death was €120,000. He pays 10% stamp duty. He sells in 2026 for €330,000, with a 5% + VAT agent fee and a €200 energy certificate. His other worldwide income is €25,000. We do not deduct the stamp duty in the capital gains sum, because the tax office has not confirmed that it can be.

Step	Calculation	Amount (€)
Stamp duty on the inheritance (paid in 2023–24)	120,000 × 10%	12,000
Sale price		330,000
Acquisition value adjusted	120,000 × 1.02 (2023 coefficient)	−122,400
Agent commission	330,000 × 5% × 1.23	−20,295
Energy certificate		−200
Gain		187,105
Taxable (50%)	187,105 × 50%	93,552.50
Income for setting the rate	93,552.50 + 25,000	118,552.50
Tax on that total (2026 table)		45,517.93
Average rate	45,517.93 ÷ 118,552.50	38.39%
Tax on the Portuguese gain	93,552.50 × 38.39%	35,919.24
Solidarity surcharge	(93,552.50 − 80,000) × 2.5%	338.81
Capital gains tax		≈ 36,260
Total Portuguese tax (stamp duty + CGT)	12,000 + 36,260	≈ 48,260

That is about 14.6% of the sale price. He keeps about €261,250 after the agent fee, certificate and both taxes, before any UK tax. Run your own figures in the selling calculator, entering the VPT at death as the purchase price and the year of death as the purchase year.

What happens if co-heirs live in different countries?

Each heir needs a Portuguese NIF. Heirs who will not travel sign a power of attorney (procuração), notarised and apostilled abroad or signed at a Portuguese consulate, so one heir or a lawyer can sign for everyone. Grant it early: it is the step that most often delays completion (power of attorney guide). Non-EU heirs should also sign up to the Portal das Finanças electronic notifications so they do not need a fiscal representative.

What about tax in your own country?

Portugal has no inheritance tax treaty with the UK or the US, so each country applies its own rules. Keep this in view, but take home-country advice.

Country	Tax on the death	Base cost when the heir sells
UK	Inheritance tax on worldwide assets, including the Portuguese house, if the deceased was a long-term UK resident (10 of the previous 20 tax years), since 6 April 2025	Market value at death (GOV.UK), not the Portuguese VPT
US	Federal estate tax on worldwide assets of US citizens and domiciliaries, with a basic exclusion of $15 million for deaths in 2026 (IRS)	Generally fair market value at death (IRS Publication 551)
France	French succession duties if the deceased lived in France, or the heir has lived there 6 of the last 10 years	See our French guide: under the 1971 treaty the gain is in principle exempt from French income tax

Because the UK and US start from market value at death, the home-country gain is usually smaller than the Portuguese one, and credit for Portuguese tax is capped at the home tax on the same gain. See the UK residents guide.

Key points

• Portugal has no inheritance tax as such: non-family heirs pay 10% stamp duty on the VPT; spouses, partners, descendants and ascendants are exempt, and the 0.8% property rate does not apply on death.
• The Modelo 1 declaration is compulsory for everyone and due by the end of the third month after the month of death; stamp duty over €1,000 can be paid in up to 10 instalments.
• Heirs can sell before the partilha, but every heir (and, where relevant, their spouse) must consent and sign.
• The CGT base is the VPT at the date of death, with the date of death as the acquisition date; each heir declares their own share at 50% of the gain.
• Since the 2025 Supreme Administrative Court ruling, selling a whole inheritance share is outside IRS, but selling the house itself is taxed normally.
• An English will usually means waiting for a UK grant of probate, and UK- or US-connected estates may also face tax at home.