AndyJohnson

Hi all,

Am new to this forum and found it by chance, and I'm glad I did! soem great info/news/tips. Thanks.

My question is, as a UK citizen my wife and I want to spend majority of our time in the Algarve and come back and forth to the UK under the 90 days a year necessary for residents. Due to financial needs we want to buy in Portugal and pay their taxes and not here in the UK at 40%......

Does a Portuguese fiscal number mean you do not need a residence card too or are they totally different?

Will we need to apply for residency cards and if so does anyone know of a link so we can download it and start the ball rolling?

What is the benefit of a residents card over not having one and do you have to have one to live there?

Can we use our British driving licenses indefinitely?

Thanks a lot!



Andy.

Cleri

Hi Andy
A fiscal card is your tax number,you need this for most things,ie buying a house,even buying a mobile phone here.
Resident card is totally different,I may get shouted down,but I see no real need for a resident card,you can still be resident for tax purposes without having residency.
I do not have residency,but I am in the health system,and pay tax here,I think its an outdated rule now with the EU regs.

As long as you have an EU driving licence,ie pink card,that is fine,again you are supposed to change it for a Portuguese one,but this is now being disputed as we are all part of the EU,I have been stopped a few times by our beloved GNR policeman (its normal for road blocks to check your docs) and have never had a problem,even though they know I live here.
Cx

AndyJohnson

Hi clerigogirl,

Thanks for the reply. Appreciated, had visions of seeing lots of 'reads' but no replies!

Very helpful indeed. We came out to Vale do Lobo 2 years ago and fell in love. What a beautiful place, with wonderful restaurants, sites and golf courses!

Ok, couple more questions please. IF you have no residency card can you pay for private health care, like Bupa etc here in the UK?

I heard the tax was being raised from 15% to 25%, can you confirm? Is setting up a bank account easy and do you need fiscal number to do this?

What a beautiful country it is. We hope to be fairly wealthy soon and as proud as we are to be English the way the country has gone, plus the outrageous 40% taxes thanks to old Gordy Brown we really want to spend a fair bit of time outside of England.

derbyflan

You're not the Andy Johnson who plays for Everton are you?

AndyJohnson

Shhhhhh. Keep it to yourself. Nah, bit more hair than him, LOL.

derbyflan

And undoubtedly a better footballer

AndyJohnson

For sure, he's not the greatest. Nowhere in the league of our Thierry.

Seem to have a good friendly atmosphere/group of people here judging by the threads/posts. Where are you all based???

derbyflan

I'm still stuck in the UK Andy 18 months to push and I'll be leaving it all behind though that's for sure. I haven't been on this forum more than a week or so myself but I'm learning loads.

BTW, I can't dispute Thierry's class I just wish he played for us!!

AndyJohnson

Where are you looking to move to out there? Why Portugal???

Derby fan I guess? Shame you got knocked out of FA Cup, thought you'd have won that one.

Cleri

I live in the Western Algarve near Aljezur,beautiful coastline!
Not sure about the tax rate,mattiespeople will help with that one.
We have private health care here (as well as state) It was much much cheaper here than we expected,we pay 1100 euors for the both of us 47 and 53 year old.This entitles us to go to the very fab private hospital in lagos,we pay 10% of any costs,so ie consultant usually charges 70 euors,we pay 7 of course.
The huge benefit of going into the state system is that you pay much less for prescriptions.Hub has pills for his bad knee,we used to pay something like 35 euros over the counter,now with a GPs prescription (you dont have to see him,just ask receptionist for what you want and he signs it) I think they cost 11 euros....... big difference!

The first thing you must do is get a fiscal number,you certainly need it to open a bank account,different banks have different rules for opening accounts,but ALL need a fiscal number,some will ask for birth certs etc,ours didnt,but the rules have changed since we moved here nearly 3 years ago.
Anything else I can help with.......fire away
Cleri x

derbyflan

Yup, Ram through and through. Ah well, never mind about teh FA Cup - prmotion is what we're chasing I've just posted a bit about why we're thinking of Portugal on another thread (I want to move to Portugal) so I'll let you read that without repeating it here. But the very best of luck to you in your search for a better life - as that's what I think it will be. We'll have to keep an eye out (as newbies!) and see how we're advancing in attaining our goals.

Hello Cleri,

One of the first things I did when I found this site was read your posts between yourself and Nomad and they had me in stiches. It was almost compulsive reading!! I take it you've not yet found a buyer for your lovely house yet? One thing I wanted to ask you as a Boxer owner. How did they adapt to the Algarve heat? I have 2 Boxers myself who'll be coming with us and they'll be getting on a bit by the time we come over (9 & 8).

AndyJohnson

Thanks Cleri,

Sounds wonderful, really does. Amazing how you can fall in love with a place instantly.

I presume it is 1100 Euros per year for both of you? The warm weather must be better for his knee than the damp and cold of England!

How is the weather there today? Warm?

Would you ever come back to the UK?

AndyJohnson

Thank you my friend, you too. Stay in touch, we'll post regularly and compare notes etc!

And good luck on promotion!

Cleri

Yes 1000 for the both of us,blimey I think I was paying about 100 quid a month just for me before i left Uk.
He has hardly any probs with his knee now,if he does its excessive golf that causes it
We have had crap weather for the last couple of weeks (but thats by my standards!) its been pretty cloudy and wet,but at least its warmed up a bit especially at night.
It was partly sunny today,hot when it came out
Yesterday was beautiful,probably 75 degrees!
I would NEVER come back to the Uk out of choice!,I have only been back 3 times and that was for 2 funerals and a wedding (wheres hugh grant?) which I could not get out of.
At first I missed my friends very very much,but they all come out to see us,and I have got over that now,and have made new friends,both english and portuguese.
I would add that the Portuguese people are lovely lovely people,so warm and welcoming and hospitable.
You have probably read on previous posts,the one thing that sticks in my mind is when you are in a bar (which I often am hic) EVERYONE going in or out says hello and goodbye and everything ok? even when they dont know you,when was the last time that happened to you in Uk ?

Cleri

Hi DF
Yes Nomad and I had a good laugh too
No havent sold the house yet,sales are very slow at the moment.

My boxers are Portuguese Im afraid.
Ela we got when she was 5 weeks old from a friend,and Cookie who we think is about 6 is a rescue (I wont tell you the details its not nice)
Both cope well with the heat although they dont know anything else I guess.
When its hot,they just lay in the shade,and they get their walks early in the morning and later in the evening when its cooler.
I think your dogs will be fine,matties brought hers from Uk and its fine!
Cleri x