Crypto Tax in Portugal: The 365-Day Rule and What It Misses
2026-09-08
General information, not tax or legal advice. Portugal taxes resident individuals on crypto under the personal income tax (IRS), with time held often decisive for qualifying tokens. The charging rules sit in the current IRS Article 10 text; check it first, since paragraph numbers move when the article is amended.
The 365-day rule has conditions
Gains and losses on eligible non-security tokens held 365 days or more are excluded from IRS but still declared on annex G1, with pre-2023 holding time counting and FIFO applied per account or custodian. Shorter holds generally fall in Category G at the 28 percent special rate, subject to its conditions and with an aggregation option, per IRS Article 72. As an illustration only, and assuming eligible tokens plus qualifying counterparty jurisdiction: buy at 2,000 euros, sell at 3,000 after 400 days, and the 1,000 gain is excluded but declarable.
Selling, spending and swapping
Selling for euros or paying for goods with crypto is generally a disposal measured against acquisition cost plus documented costs. Crypto-to-crypto swaps are generally deferred, with cost carrying into the tokens received until a later non-crypto disposal, per the AT Criptoativos brochure (December 2025). Unique non-fungible tokens sit outside this regime, and buying crypto with euros is not itself taxed.
Staking, lending and mining differ
Remuneration from crypto operations can fall in Category E. For rewards paid in crypto, Article 5 provides for taxation under the capital-gains rules on disposal. Do not assume identical treatment for every reward arrangement. Mining and transaction validation can be Category B business activity, as explained in the AT brochure; business computations need separate review.
Losses, records and counterparties
The holding-period exclusion and swap deferral have counterparty-jurisdiction conditions: check the EU, EEA and treaty/information-exchange provisions in Article 10. The AT brochure explains loss offsets, five-year carryforward with aggregation, and restrictions involving favourable-tax jurisdictions. Keep dates, costs and counterparty evidence; holding for a year is not the only condition.
Residency cautions
Departure from Portugal can trigger a deemed disposal of crypto held, with scope and exceptions depending on the current Article 10 wording, so check the deemed-disposal departure rules and the other country's exit rules before moving. Arrival does not restart holding periods. Exchange location never decides residence. Sources checked: 8 September 2026.
Sources and scope
For tax-resident individuals only: the Article 10 text for scope and holding rule, Article 72 for the Category G rate and aggregation, and the brochure for forms and mechanics. Professional-scale activity may sit outside this summary.
Related reading: Crypto Tax by Country and Crypto Regulatory Landscape Evolving 2026.