Mozambique expat tax 2026: residence and rates

Mozambique rewrote its tax residence rule from 1 January 2026, and most guides haven't caught up. The old test of more than 180 days in the year is gone. You're now resident if your main residence is in Mozambique, if you work there (unless that work is secondary), or if your centre of economic interests is there, whatever your nationality and however long you stay.

This guide covers personal tax (IRPS) for people moving to or living in Mozambique in the 2026 tax year, which runs from 1 January to 31 December 2026: the new residence tests, the IRPS rates and the monthly pay as you earn table, freelancing and the simplified ISPC tax, pensions, investments, crypto, INSS social security, treaties and visas.

What's changed: Law 11/2025 of 29 December 2025 amended the IRPS Code from 1 January 2026. It replaced the residence test in article 21, added digital goods and services (including cryptocurrencies) to the income rules, and made capital gains taxed separately on the 10% to 32% scale when you realise them (new article 54-A). It also ended the simplified profit regimes, so the self-employed must keep full accounts, and brought back the annual return for employees. Law 9/2025 raised the small-taxpayer tax (ISPC) limit to MZN 4 million and set 15% of turnover for consultants and other professions. The monthly salary withholding table is unchanged.

📋 Mozambique tax at a glance for 2026

The new residence rule: no more 180 days

What makes you tax resident in Mozambique in 2026? Not a day count. Article 21 of the IRPS Code, as rewritten by Law 11/2025, says you're resident "regardless of nationality and of the period of stay in the country" if any of these applies:

Image 1 — Mozambique dropped its 180-day rule from 1 January 2026

• Main residence: your main residence (residência principal) is in Mozambique.

• Work: you carry on a professional activity in Mozambique, paid or unpaid, unless you can show it's a secondary activity.

• Economic interests: the centre of your economic interests is in Mozambique.

• Crew: you work on a ship or aircraft operated by a Mozambican business.

Family members are always treated as resident if the person who heads the household lives in Mozambique. You must tell the tax authority where you live.

The work test is the one to watch. Before 2026, someone on a short assignment could stay under 180 days and be taxed as a non-resident. Under the new wording, working in Mozambique can make you resident unless the work there is secondary. The law doesn't define "secondary", and Law 11/2025 gave the government 180 days to issue regulations. Some guidance pages on the tax authority's website still describe the old 180-day test, so ask the Autoridade Tributária (AT) before relying on either reading.

Non-residents are taxed only on income from Mozambique, usually by a final 20% withholding. The new work test makes non-resident status harder to keep if you work in the country.

👉 Autoridade Tributária: Law 11/2025 amending the IRPS Code, Boletim da República I série no. 248, 29 December 2025 (in Portuguese)

👉 Autoridade Tributária: tax legislation (in Portuguese)

When you become tax resident in Mozambique, and how you stop

With no day count, you can be resident from the day you move your main home to Mozambique or start working there. Residence is tested for each calendar tax year.

Stopping is harder to time. You need to move your main residence abroad, stop working in Mozambique (or keep any work there genuinely secondary) and move your economic interests, such as a business, property or main bank accounts. Watch your family ties too: members of a household are always treated as resident if one of the people who head it lives in Mozambique, so a spouse who stays behind can keep you resident. We found no exit tax.

Keep evidence of where you live and work, such as a lease, an employment contract abroad and a foreign tax residence certificate.

Income tax rates for 2026

Mozambique taxes income in five categories: employment (including pensions), business and professional income, capital income and gains, rental income and other income. Business, rental and some other income are added together and taxed on one scale, the article 54 table, after an annual tax-free amount of MZN 225,000 and a personal deduction from the tax of MZN 1,800 for a single person.

Mozambique IRPS rates for 2026 (article 54 table)

You multiply all of your taxable income by the rate for your band and take off the amount in the last column. Source: IRPS Code articles 54 and 56, as explained in the tax authority's guide to the IRPS Code; the same bands appear in article 54-A for capital gains (Law 11/2025).

Salaries work differently. Your employer takes tax from your pay each month (retenção na fonte) using the monthly table in article 65-A, which Law 11/2025 restated for 2026. No tax is withheld on monthly pay up to MZN 20,249.99. Above MZN 144,750 a month, you pay MZN 28,375 plus 32% of the excess, with small reductions for up to four dependants.

From 2014 to 2025 this withholding was the final tax on salary, and employees with no other income didn't file a return. Law 11/2025 repealed that filing exemption (article 52(2)(b)) and rewrote article 65-A without its former paragraph on final withholding, so plan to file an annual return for 2026. It left the exclusions in article 26(3)(a) to (c) unchanged, and the AT's guide says article 26 keeps salary out of the aggregated total, so salary should still be taxed on its own. Check with the AT how your return treats it. On salary alone the answer is the same, because the monthly table follows the annual scale.

👉 Autoridade Tributária: Law 11/2025, article 1 (articles 26 and 65-A as amended) and article 3 (article 52(2)(b) repealed) (in Portuguese)

👉 Autoridade Tributária: frequently asked questions on IRPS, including the guide to the IRPS Code (in Portuguese)

Worked example

• You're single with no dependants, resident, and work for a Mozambican employer for the whole of 2026, earning MZN 6.5 million (about US$100k at MZN 65 to the dollar), or MZN 541,667 a month.

• Monthly withholding is MZN 28,375 plus 32% of the MZN 396,917 above MZN 144,750: MZN 155,388. Over the year that's MZN 1,864,660, or 28.7% of your salary.

• INSS takes 3% of your pay: MZN 16,250 a month, or MZN 195,000 a year. It isn't deducted before tax.

Your all-in bill is about MZN 2,059,660, or 31.7% of your salary. Your employer pays a further 4% to INSS on top of your pay.

Freelancing in Mozambique

If you're self-employed and resident, your profit is business and professional income (the second category). It's added to any other non-salary income and taxed on the article 54 scale. From 2026, you must keep organised accounts: Law 11/2025 ended the simplified regimes that used to set taxable profit as a percentage of turnover. Mozambican clients may have to withhold 20% IRPS from your fees; ask the AT how that withholding is treated in your return.

On US$100k of profit (MZN 6.5 million), IRPS is about MZN 1.86 million. Add INSS at 7% on the contribution base you choose (at least the minimum wage for your sector, MZN 10,845 a month for non-financial services from April 2026) and you pay about 28.8% all-in.

Could the simplified small-taxpayer tax (ISPC) help? Only for smaller businesses. From 2026, it's open to individuals with turnover of up to MZN 4 million (about US$62,000). Liberal professions, defined to include consultants, pay 15% of turnover, and can stay in ISPC for at most five years. You can't use it if you provide those services to the same client for more than 183 days in the year. Turnover above the limit is taxed at 20%.

👉 Autoridade Tributária: Law 9/2025 revising the ISPC (republished in full) and Law 11/2025 (in Portuguese)

Crypto, investments and pensions

Is crypto taxed in Mozambique? There's no rule or guidance for individuals. The IRPS Code's list of capital gains covers items such as property, shares and intellectual property, and crypto isn't named in it. But Law 11/2025 now defines cryptocurrencies as digital goods, treats income from digital goods paid by Mozambican payers as Mozambican income, and sets a 10% rate on some income from digital goods. If the AT treats your gain as a capital gain, it would be taxed on the scale. Treat the position as unclear and keep full records.

• Pensions: the AT says pensions under article 5 of the IRPS Code are exempt from tax. We found nothing limiting this to Mozambican pensions, but there's no specific AT guidance on foreign pensions.

• Mozambican dividends and interest: most are taxed by a final 20% withholding at source, and some items have a lower 10% rate.

• Foreign dividends and interest: as a resident you must declare them. The guidance we found doesn't say whether they go on the scale or at the 20% rate.

• Capital gains: from 2026, gains are taxed separately when you realise them, using the 10% to 32% table in new article 54-A.

• Inheritance and gift tax: 2% for children, spouses and parents, 5% for brothers and sisters and other relatives up to the third degree, and 10% for anyone else. We found no wealth tax.

👉 Autoridade Tributária: FAQs on IRPS (pensions) and on inheritance and gift tax (in Portuguese)

Social security

The National Social Security Institute (INSS) runs the compulsory scheme.

• Employees: 3% of your pay, plus 4% from your employer, 7% in total. There's no ceiling on the pay it's charged on.

• Foreign employees: you must join unless you prove you're covered by another country's social security scheme. The proof must be authenticated by a Mozambican consulate or confirmed by the other country's authority.

• Self-employed: 7%, paid on a monthly earnings figure you choose, which can't be less than the minimum wage for your sector.

Mozambique has a social security convention with Portugal, listed on the INSS legislation page.

👉 INSS: contribution rate for employees (in Portuguese)

👉 INSS: contribution rate for the self-employed (in Portuguese)

👉 INSS: Decree 51/2017, compulsory social security regulations, articles 3, 4 and 65 (in Portuguese)

👉 INSS: minimum wages in force from 1 April 2026 (in Portuguese)

👉 INSS: social security legislation, including the convention with Portugal (in Portuguese)

Double tax treaties

Does Mozambique have double tax treaties? Only a few. The tax authority lists nine: Botswana, India, Italy, Macao, Mauritius, Portugal, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. There's no treaty with the UK or the United States.

A treaty can decide which country taxes your salary or pension and gives relief for foreign tax. The IRPS Code also lists a deduction for international double taxation, but the tax authority's guide to the IRPS Code links relief for foreign tax to treaty countries, so don't count on a credit for tax paid in a non-treaty country without checking with the AT.

👉 Autoridade Tributária: FAQs on non-residents, including the list of double tax conventions (in Portuguese)

Visas and long stays

Mozambique has no digital nomad visa. Many nationalities, including British, American, German, French and Portuguese travellers, can visit for up to 30 days with an electronic travel authorisation (eTA), and several neighbouring countries need no visa at all. Tourist e-visas allow stays of 30, 60 or 90 days, and extensions go through a Mozambican embassy.

For longer stays, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists a residence visa, applied for through a Mozambican embassy. The longer e-visa routes are tied to business, work in oil and gas, or investment: the investment visa is for projects worth at least US$500,000 and can be valid for up to 730 days, for stays of up to 90 days at a time. None of these is designed for someone working remotely for a foreign employer.

👉 Mozambique eVisa and eTA portal: visa types and visa-free countries

👉 Mozambique eVisa portal: investment visa (in Portuguese)

Who is Mozambique good for?

How does Mozambique compare for different kinds of mover? Ratings are relative to the 150+ countries TaxPilot covers, based on 2026 rules and the all-in cost including INSS. We convert at MZN 65 to US$1, close to the Autoridade Tributária rate of MZN 64.65 in October 2026.

☑️ Who is Mozambique good for? Tax ratings for expats in 2026

Filing and deadlines

You need a tax number (NUIT) to file or be paid. The annual IRPS return is form Modelo 10, filed with your local tax office (Direcção de Área Fiscal) or online.

• Salary only: file from January to 31 March 2027 for the 2026 tax year. Your employer must give you a statement of your pay and tax by 20 January.

• Other income: file from January to 30 April 2027.

• Payment: pay any IRPS due by 31 May 2027.

• Payments on account: if you have business or professional income, you make three advance payments by 20 June, 20 September and 20 November, based on the previous year's tax.

Employers pay over the tax withheld from salaries by the 20th of the following month. IRPS is paid in meticais.

👉 Autoridade Tributária: FAQs on IRPS returns, deadlines and payments on account (in Portuguese)

Frequently asked questions

When do I become tax resident in Mozambique?

From 1 January 2026 there's no day count. You're resident if your main residence is in Mozambique, if you carry on a professional activity there (unless it's secondary), or if your centre of economic interests is there, whatever your nationality and length of stay. Before 2026 the test was more than 180 days in the year, or a home kept as a permanent residence.

What are the income tax rates in Mozambique in 2026?

IRPS runs from 10% to 32%. On the annual table, after a tax-free MZN 225,000, the 32% rate applies to taxable income above MZN 1,512,000. For salaries, the monthly withholding table charges 32% on pay above MZN 144,750 a month. From 2026, employees must also file an annual return.

Are pensions taxed in Mozambique?

The tax authority says pensions under article 5 of the IRPS Code are exempt from IRPS. We found nothing limiting this to Mozambican pensions, but there's no specific guidance on foreign pensions, so confirm your case with the Autoridade Tributária.

Can freelancers use the simplified ISPC tax?

Only if turnover is no more than MZN 4 million a year (about US$62,000). From 2026, liberal professions, including consultants, pay 15% of turnover and can stay in ISPC for at most five years. Above the limit you pay IRPS at up to 32% and must keep full accounts.

Does Mozambique have a digital nomad visa?

No. Tourist e-visas allow stays of up to 90 days, and many nationalities can visit for up to 30 days with an electronic travel authorisation. Longer routes are tied to work, business or investment projects of at least US$500,000.

Does Mozambique have a tax treaty with the UK?

No. The tax authority lists nine treaties: Botswana, India, Italy, Macao, Mauritius, Portugal, South Africa, the UAE and Vietnam. There's no treaty with the UK or the United States, and relief for tax paid in a non-treaty country isn't guaranteed, so check with the AT.

Where to go next

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