Best stock brokers & investing apps in Portugal

• 9 stock brokers & investing apps with a verified licence serve residents of Portugal: 9 serve under an EU passport.
• Top pick by Coinish Score: Interactive Brokers (71/100, Editor Rating 4.1/5).
• $0 commission on US stocks: XTB, Trading 212 and NAGA.
• Lowest minimum deposit: $50 (NAGA).

Ranked by Coinish Score: half the Editor Rating for the entity that serves residents of Portugal, half Market Signal. Brokers without enough verified data for a rating are placed by Market Signal and labelled; brokers with neither are listed last. How we rate

Of the 9 stock brokers & investing apps on this list, 5 serve Portugal from a CySEC licence in Cyprus (eToro, Trading 212, NAGA and 2 more), 1 serves Portugal from a CBI licence in Ireland (Interactive Brokers), 1 serves Portugal from a KNF licence in Poland (XTB) and 1 serves Portugal from a Finantsinspektsioon licence in Estonia (Lightyear); 1 more is licensed by BaFin.

Currency conversion, which you pay on every US share bought from a non-dollar account, costs from 0.25% (DEGIRO) to 0.5% (XTB). DEGIRO charges €2 per order for US stocks.

• Search the company name on the CMVM register (web3.cmvm.pt); for a firm licensed elsewhere, on its home regulator's register too (CySEC, CBI and KNF for most of this list).
• Check which company your contract is with. Interactive Brokers, for example, onboards residents of Portugal through Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited (CBI licence C423427), and the name on the account-opening documents should match the list.

Yes, with a licensed provider. Brokers need MiFID II authorisation from an EEA regulator; firms authorised elsewhere in the EEA may serve residents under the European passport.

Source: bafin.de

By Coinish Score, Interactive Brokers (71/100, Editor Rating 4.1/5), through Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited (CBI licence C423427). eToro (71) and XTB (69) follow. The score rates the company that would serve you in Portugal, so the same brand can rank differently in another country.

Yes. None of the 9 brokers here is Portuguese, so nothing they pay you has Portuguese tax taken off first.

When investment income doesn't come through an intermediary in Portugal, no Portuguese tax is withheld. You report it in table 8A of Annex J of your Modelo 3 return, where it's taxed separately at the special 28% rate. You can add it to your other income instead by ticking table 8B, and tax already paid abroad can be credited in table 8A.

Source: info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt

Yes. A firm authorised under MiFID II in one EEA country can serve residents of the others once its home regulator has notified them. All 9 on this list reach Portugal that way, most from Cyprus (5), Ireland (1) and Poland (1).

The home regulator supervises the firm and its compensation scheme applies, while CMVM can still set conduct rules for clients in Portugal.

Source: bafin.de

If a broker fails, the compensation scheme of the regulator that licenses it applies, not one chosen by where you live. For this list: Investor Compensation Fund (Cyprus): 90% of covered claims, up to €20,000 for clients of CySEC-licensed investment firms (5 on this list); Investor Compensation Company (ICCL): 90% of the loss, up to €20,000 per investor for clients of CBI-licensed investment firms (1 on this list); KDPW investor compensation scheme (Poland): 100% up to €3,000 and 90% above that, at most €20,100 per investor for clients of KNF-licensed investment firms (1 on this list); Entschädigungseinrichtung der Wertpapierhandelsunternehmen (EdW): 90% of the claim, up to €20,000 per investor for clients of BaFin-licensed investment firms (1 on this list). Compensation covers missing client money and assets after a firm's failure, never trading losses.

Sources: cysec.gov.cy, investorcompensation.ie, kdpw.pl, e-d-w.de

Gains on selling shares are Category G capital gains (mais-valias); for shares held more than 24 months, the purchase cost is adjusted by monetary correction coefficients. Income from foreign entities, such as dividends in a foreign broker account, is taxed at the special 28% rate, or you can opt to add it to your other income (englobamento). If you opt in, the choice covers all your Category G gains, and a net loss can then be carried forward for five years.

Coinish isn't a tax adviser: check your own situation with the tax authority or an accountant.

Source: info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt