NON-HABITUAL RESIDENT STATUS

For those who live abroad and intend to live in Portugal, or even emigrants who wish to return, there is a special regime for taxing income.

What is this statute?

Habitual resident status is a special status aimed at ensuring the performance of value-added or intellectual activities. To enjoy the statute 10 consecutive years, you must be considered a resident under Portuguese law and have not been taxed as a tax resident in Portugal in the five years prior to the application for the status, and must remain more than 183 days in the Portuguese territory.

Another possibility is to have a housing of its own as main.

What are the tax benefits?

Benefits vary depending on the type of non-habitual income. For example, if you had income in Portuguese dependent labor and you can enjoy a lower IRS rate, in this case independent of 20%. However, this rate reduction does not apply to all workers, as it is only high on taxpayers engaged in value-added activities. Thus, taxpayers who perform functions of doctors, architects, psychologists, teachers, among others, can enjoy this benefit. The list of these activities can be found at portaria n.º 230/2019. Please note that you can provide evidence of the activity that you can then deliver your IRS. To do so, you can present as proof one of the following elements:

• a statement by the employer;

• an employment contract;

• a power of attorney which includes the powers of direction and binding of the legal person, if it is part of the upper board of the company.

Taxpayers who have obtained income from dependent and independent work are applied to the method of taxation in Portuguese territory, meaning that they are not subject to taxation in Portuguese territory, provided that they are subject to taxation in the country.

The possibility of being a foreign pensioner, who earns his retirement from another country, is also exempt from taxation through Portugal. This, provided that one of the requirements presented below is met:

• There is agreement between states to have taxation;

• when, as it was presented in paragraph 1 of art. 18 of the CIRS, the income was not considered as obtained in Portugal.

portaria n.º 230/2019

NON-HABITUAL RESIDENT