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Portuguese R&D Tax Credit Calculator

SIFIDE II returns part of what a Portuguese company spends on research and development as a tax credit. Enter the period’s R&D spending, the two previous years and the taxable profit to see the credit and how much of it the tax charge absorbs.

Enter the total of already-eligible spending, net of non-repayable State co-funding, as certified by the declaration from the National Innovation Agency. A year with no R&D spending counts as zero in the average of the two previous financial years.

Tax credit for the period
€115,000.00
Deductible in this period
€55,000.00
Average of the two previous years€100,000.00
Increase over that average€100,000.00
Base rate (32.5%)€65,000.00
Incremental rate (50%)€50,000.00
Credit as a share of the spending57.5%
Corporate tax charge for the period (the ceiling)€55,000.00
Carried forward€60,000.00
Corporate tax payable after the deduction€0.00

The Investment Tax Code in force covers tax periods up to 2025. Law 13/2026 of 16 April authorised the Government to extend SIFIDE II to 2026 and to end the indirect route through investment funds, but that authorisation runs for 180 days and the decree-law amending the Code has not been published yet. Until it is, the last period covered remains 2025.

The period's corporate tax charge of €55,000.00 is not enough to absorb the whole credit: €60,000.00 is carried forward. Article 38.º(4) allows it to be deducted up to the 12th following tax period, so it is not lost, only deferred. The deduction stops at the tax charge and never produces a refund.

An educational estimate based on the figures you enter. It does not work out whether the spending is eligible, which is the substance of the regime and depends on the certifying declaration from the National Innovation Agency: the categories in article 37.º, the 120% treatment of level-8 qualified staff and of eco-design projects, and the cap on operating costs at 55% of staff costs. It also leaves out the indirect route through investment funds, the conditions in article 39.º, group taxation, autonomous taxation and the municipal and state surcharges, which sit outside the deduction ceiling. The 1,500,000 EUR limit is applied to the incremental credit itself.

An informational estimate based on the Portuguese Investment Tax Code. It is not tax or financial advice.

Video: how to use the calculator

The two rates of article 38.º

Article 38.º(1) of the Portuguese Investment Tax Code deducts from the corporate tax charge the value of research and development spending, to the extent it was not co-funded by the State on a non-repayable basis, at “a double percentage”. The base rate is 32.5% of the spending incurred in the period. The incremental rate is 50% of the increase in that spending over the simple arithmetic average of the two previous financial years, capped at 1,500,000 EUR. The two add up, which is why the National Innovation Agency, which administers the scheme, sums up the combined effect by saying the support can mean recovering up to 82.5% of the R&D investment. A company that has never spent on R&D has an average of zero, so all of the first year’s spending is an increase and earns both rates in full.

The ceiling is the corporate tax charge, and only that

The deduction is made against the corporate tax charge determined under article 90.º(1)(a) of the corporate tax code, “up to its full amount”. This has two practical consequences most summaries leave out. The first is that the municipal and state surcharges sit outside the ceiling: they are paid in full even where the SIFIDE credit exceeds the tax charge. The second is that the benefit never becomes cash back: it takes the charge to zero and stops there. What does not fit is not lost, because paragraph 4 of the same article allows the part not deducted for insufficient tax charge to be deducted up to the 12th following tax period, a deadline that Law 21/2023 extended and that is still often quoted as the shorter deadline of other benefits.

The uplift for young SMEs is an alternative, not an addition

Article 38.º(2) grants a 15% uplift to the base rate, meaning a rate of 47.5%, to micro, small and medium enterprises that have not yet completed two financial years. The condition almost every summary drops sits in the same sentence: the uplift is for those who “did not benefit from the incremental rate”. So 47.5% and 50% never add up, and a company in that position has to choose. In practice the normal route almost always wins, because a newly created company has no R&D history, so the increase is the whole of its spending: 32.5% plus 50% gives 82.5%, well above 47.5%. The uplift is only worth taking where the period’s spending is at or below the previous average and there is no increase to claim. The calculator compares both routes and returns whichever is better.

What the calculator does (and what it leaves out)

The calculator starts from the total of already-eligible spending, works out the average of the two previous financial years and the increase, applies both rates with the cap on the incremental one, derives the corporate tax charge from the taxable profit you enter and splits the credit between what is deducted now and what carries forward. It leaves out the most demanding part of the regime, which is deciding which spending is eligible: the ten categories in article 37.º, the 120% treatment of spending on staff qualified at level 8 of the National Qualifications Framework and of eco-design projects, and the cap on operating costs at 55% of staff costs. That is the subject of the application to the National Innovation Agency and of the certifying declaration it issues. It also leaves out the indirect route through investment funds, the conditions in article 39.º, group taxation, autonomous taxation and the non-cumulation rule of article 42.º with the RFAI investment relief over the same spending.

Worked example

Take an SME that spent 200,000 EUR on R&D this period, after 120,000 EUR the year before and 80,000 EUR the year before that, with a taxable profit of 300,000 EUR. The average of the two previous years is 100,000 EUR, so the increase is 100,000 EUR. The base rate gives 65,000 EUR and the incremental rate gives 50,000 EUR: a credit of 115,000 EUR, or 57.5% of what it spent. The corporate tax charge is 55,000 EUR, because the first 50,000 EUR of taxable profit is taxed at 15% and the remaining 250,000 EUR at 19%. It therefore deducts 55,000 EUR in this period, ends up with no corporate tax to pay and carries the other 60,000 EUR into the following twelve periods. Note that the credit is more than twice the year’s tax charge: without the carry-forward it would lose over half the benefit.

Frequently asked questions

How much does SIFIDE give back?
Up to 82.5% of the period’s R&D spending, as a tax credit. Two rates add up: 32.5% of all the period’s eligible spending, the base rate, and 50% of the increase in that spending over the simple arithmetic average of the two previous financial years, the incremental rate, which is capped at 1,500,000 EUR. A company with no R&D history earns both in full, because everything it spends is an increase. A company that spends the same every year earns only the base rate.
If the credit is bigger than the tax, do I get the difference?
No. The deduction is made against the corporate tax charge and “up to its full amount”, so it takes the tax to zero and stops there: SIFIDE is not a grant, it is a credit against tax. The part that does not fit for insufficient tax charge is not lost either. Article 38.º(4) allows it to be deducted up to the 12th following tax period, which gives a company investing now and turning a profit later plenty of room.
Does the deduction also reduce the surcharges?
No. Article 38.º deducts against the charge determined under article 90.º(1)(a) of the corporate tax code, which is the corporate tax charge itself. The municipal surcharge, set by each municipality up to 1.5% of taxable profit, and the state surcharge, due above 1,500,000 EUR of profit, sit outside it and are paid in full. That is why a company with a SIFIDE credit larger than its tax charge still has tax to pay.
Does a new company get the uplifted 47.5% rate?
It may, but it is almost never in its interest. Article 38.º(2) gives a 15% uplift to the base rate, meaning 47.5%, to SMEs that have not yet completed two financial years, but only to those who do not benefit from the incremental rate. Because a newly created company has no R&D spending in the previous years, the increase is the whole of its spending and the normal route gives 82.5%. The uplift is only better where there is no increase, that is where the period’s spending does not rise over the previous average.
What is the application deadline?
The end of the fifth month of the year following the financial year, the deadline in article 40.º(3), which adds that applications relating to years before that tax period are not accepted. The application goes to the National Innovation Agency, which issues the declaration certifying that the activities genuinely amount to research or development; that declaration forms part of the company’s tax documentation file.
Does SIFIDE still exist in 2026?
The Investment Tax Code in force says SIFIDE II applies “in the tax periods from 2014 to 2025”, and article 38.º(1) repeats the limit. Law 13/2026 of 16 April authorised the Government to amend the Code so as to extend the regime to the 2026 tax period and, at the same time, to repeal the indirect route through investment funds; the authorisation runs for 180 days. Until the decree-law is published, the last period covered by the Code remains 2025. It is worth checking where the law stands before counting on the benefit for the 2026 financial year.
Can I combine SIFIDE with the RFAI on the same investment?
Not on the same spending. Article 42.º says the SIFIDE deduction “is not cumulative, in respect of the same spending, with tax benefits of the same nature”, including contractual ones. A company may use both regimes in the same year, provided each item of spending is allocated to only one of them. In practice that is an allocation decision taken before the application is submitted, not after.
Are the figures exact?
The 32.5% and 50% rates, the 1,500,000 EUR cap, the uplift in paragraph 2 and the twelve carry-forward periods come from article 38.º of the Portuguese Investment Tax Code. The result is an educational estimate based on the figures you enter; it does not check whether the spending is eligible or the access conditions in article 39.º, which are the substantive part of the regime. It does not replace the help of a certified accountant or the certifying declaration from the National Innovation Agency.

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Author: Thorben Rasmus Idel · Reviewed by: Nahar Geva · Last reviewed: