Australian Expat Tax in Portugal

This page helps you coordinate Australian departure rules, Portuguese residence, and the new but not-yet-in-force Australia-Portugal treaty before either side files from the wrong assumptions.

Australian cases turn on three things: the treaty between Australia and Portugal is signed but not yet in force, so for now relief is unilateral only; ceasing Australian residency can trigger a capital-gains exit charge; and Australian superannuation, tax-free at home after 60, is taxed in Portugal. The sections below take them in order. This is general guidance, not advice, and figures and treaty status should be confirmed for your year.

Why Australian Movers to Portugal Face a Specific Corridor

Australia and Portugal had no tax treaty until one was signed in late 2023, and as of 2026 it is still not in force. That single fact shapes everything: until the treaty is operative, neither country gives treaty-rate relief, and double taxation is managed only by each country's own foreign-tax-credit rules. On top of that, leaving Australia can crystallise capital gains under a deemed-disposal rule, and the Australian habit of treating super as tax-free after 60 does not carry across the border.

So the corridor is: confirm the treaty status, manage the exit charge on the way out, and price in that Portugal will tax your super pension at its own rates. Each of these is a planning step better taken before you move.

The Australia-Portugal Treaty Is Signed but Not Yet in Force

The Convention between Australia and Portugal, the first ever between the two countries, was signed in November 2023. As of 2026 it has not entered into force, because that needs both countries to finish ratification and exchange instruments. Until then there are no reduced withholding caps and no treaty tie-breaker; Australian-source income paid to a Portuguese resident is taxed under Australia's domestic non-resident rules, and Portugal taxes your worldwide income with only its own unilateral credit for Australian tax.

When the treaty does enter into force it will, broadly, send periodic pensions to your country of residence, cap withholding on dividends and interest, and keep real-property gains taxable where the property sits. Because the timing matters for any large transaction, confirm the current in-force status before you rely on a treaty rate.

Ceasing Australian Residency and the Capital-Gains Exit Charge

When you stop being an Australian tax resident, Australia treats you as having disposed of most of your assets, other than Australian real property, at market value on the day your residency ends, and taxes the resulting gains in your final resident-year return. This deemed disposal is Australia's de facto exit tax.

You can instead elect to disregard it, which defers the tax by treating those assets as remaining within the Australian capital-gains net until you actually sell or become resident again. The trade-off is real: deferring can forfeit the discount that applies to assets held over a year and expose the later gain to non-resident rates, so the default disposal is sometimes cheaper. Australian real property stays taxable in Australia either way, and a withholding applies to foreign-resident property sales. This is a decision to model before departure, not after.

Superannuation: Tax-Free in Australia Does Not Mean Tax-Free in Portugal

Australian super is generally tax-free from a taxed fund after age 60 under Australian rules. That Australian exemption does not bind Portugal. Once you are a Portuguese resident, a periodic Australian super pension is taxable in Portugal at its normal progressive rates, and because IFICI, the regime that replaced NHR, does not exempt foreign pensions, there is no special low rate for it. The old NHR flat pension rate is gone for new arrivals, and most retirees do not qualify for IFICI in any case.

Lump sums are treated differently and can remain taxable in Australia, and a lump sum with an untaxed element (typically from a government or public-sector fund) can be taxed in Australia even after 60. Whether to draw a pension or a lump sum, and when, is a cross-border decision, not an Australian-only one.

Coordinating the ATO and Finanças

Australia runs a July-to-June tax year while Portugal uses the calendar year, which complicates the timing of foreign-tax credits in both directions. Keeping Australian property, shares, or super usually means an Australian non-resident return alongside Portuguese filing, with relief by credit until the treaty is in force and by the treaty afterwards. The work is sequencing the residency cessation, the exit-charge decision, and the start of Portuguese residency, and making both filings rely on the same facts. A signed Position Memo gives you and any Australian accountant one position to file from.