bugle33

Cheers Richard

I'm not convinced it's the thing we did at the council that gave us tax residency. You have to register if your'e staying over 3 months but that doesn't automatically make you tax resident, you have to tell them you are and then have to stay I think it's 183 days or something. I remember we even got one tax bill for something written off as we weren't living in the house.

Can't wait to hear what the lawyer and accountant has to say!..amanya....!

AliceCaroline

Having your property tax bill written off is more likely if they think you live in the house. There is a scheme where you can be exempt for the first few years but only on your primary residence.
To me it does sound like your solicitor may have put the house down as your primary residence.

Have you got a copy of the deed you signed, think its called a "Certidão de teor integral"?

Scan through it, somewhere it should say that you are buying it as a second home "habitação secundária"

We bought only 7 months before we planned to move over but made sure we had this correct even though the purchase tax was higher.

bugle33

Thanks Alice..

It was definitely written off because the house was empty, it was the equivalent of council tax.

I think where you register to do your taxes online doesn't only belong to the tax office, it's the Portuguese government. Today we had an e-mail from the same domain name advising about the rule of trimming trees back from the house to try and protect against the fires.

RichardHenshall

I suspect Alice is right. Exemptions from IMI are detailed in CIMI Artigo 11.º-A Prédios de reduzido valor patrimonial de sujeitos passivos de baixos rendimentos and are only for primary dwellings. Availability of the exemption is dependent upon low income and there are limits on the property value.

Since you've not submitted a tax return your income may have been assumed to be low (such that a return wasn't required) and exemption granted. However, I think the rules were changed to exclude those who didn't comply with declaration rules to avoid inappropriate exemptions. You may need to refer to previous versions of the Code through the links at the bottom of the page.

If anything, empty or abandoned properties are being surcharged to encourage rehabilitation into the housing stock.

LXJohn

Re 'surely she wouldn't have- etc' don't assume they are honest just because they speak English, see my post yesterday in thread 'Solicitor Complaint' and there are others in the same thread.

Pilou

Hi,

We want to contact a professional to file our first tax return as a resident with RNH.
I you have good experience with an accountant/ tax lawyer, that would be great.
We heard of an accountant Tax lawyer in Silves who also has an office in Lagoa, but did not contact him up to now.

What do you pay for a tax return with only tax exempt income under RNH?

Thanks

Loafing Along

Could not help notice this comment , have you registered yourself by mistake ?