Send Money from the UK to Portugal

How long does a transfer from the UK to Portugal take?

Most transfers arrive the same day or by the next working day.

• •When you fund the transfer. Paying us by Faster Payments early in the day gives your euros the best chance of arriving the same working day.
• •First-transfer verification. Your first payment can take slightly longer while your account is verified. After that, transfers are quicker.
• •Source-of-funds checks on a purchase. A large completion payment may need supporting documents, so sorting these early avoids a hold at the moment you need the money to move.
• •SEPA processing at the Portuguese bank. Once we release the euros, the receiving bank's own processing usually completes same or next working day.
• •Weekends and public holidays. SEPA doesn't settle on weekends or Portuguese and UK bank holidays, which can add a day around those dates.

A bank on this route often takes two to four working days. With us, most GBP to EUR payments settle same or next working day over SEPA, with a few factors affecting the exact timing.

Legal and tax notes for UK to Portugal transfers

• •Portugal doesn't have a general inheritance tax, but it does levy Stamp Duty (Imposto do Selo) on some gratuitous transfers, and this is where transfers get misread. A gift of money paid into a Portuguese bank account is treated as a gratuitous transfer. Where the recipient is a direct-line family member, a spouse or civil partner, a child or grandchild, or a parent or grandparent, the transfer is exempt from the 10% Stamp Duty rate. Where the recipient is anyone else, a sibling, a friend, an unmarried partner not registered as unidos de facto, the 10% rate can apply to the amount received. Buying property in your own name isn't a gift, so it falls outside this entirely.
• •There's a filing point worth knowing even when the exemption applies. Since the 2024 State Budget reforms, a money gift to close family paid into a Portuguese account is exempt from Stamp Duty whatever the amount, but if it's over €5,000 the recipient still has to file a Modelo 1 declaration with the Autoridade Tributária. That's an administrative filing, not a tax charge, so nothing is due. Below €5,000, there's no declaration to make at all. On scope, Imposto do Selo only applies to assets located in Portugal, so UK property, UK bank accounts, and UK investments fall outside it.
• •On the UK side, sending the money isn't itself taxable. But a large lifetime gift from a UK-domiciled person can fall under inheritance tax's seven-year rule: amounts above the £3,000 annual exemption are potentially exempt transfers and only fully drop out of your estate if you live for seven years after.
• •These notes are general information, not tax advice. If you're gifting a significant sum, or your situation spans both countries, it's worth taking professional advice on both sides before you send.