ceolchick

Hi all. I am asking this on a couple of expat sites, as my question is time-sensitive!!

I have transferred my deposit for our house in Portugal but have hit a hurdle! (surprise!)

I can't get back over to Portugal until October and my sale goes through in July, so obviously I need to pay for it! I can only transfer €5000 a day to my Portuguese lawyer's account (she has POA) through my Portuguese account, so a slow process!

My money is still in the UK, so my question is: Are there extra taxes to pay if I transfer all the money directly to my lawyer's account, rather than my own Portuguese one? I don't see the difference, as I'm sending it to her anyway, one way or the other but she seemed to think there may be taxes to pay!

I would welcome your views if you have had to deal with anything similar.

BTW, you'll all be delighted to hear, the wind is blowing a hoolie down my chimney, the skies are emptying of that cold wet stuff, you remember it don't you....in mid-June!!!!!! And don't fib, I know it's glorious over there, I've been speaking to my lawyer and bank today!! (who don't have the answer to my question! lol)

daisyman1951

Where in Pt are you buying your house? Good luck BTW

ceolchick

Figueiro dos Vinhos....wish I was there now!

daisyman1951

just looked at the municipal website, beautiful! Do you speak Pt 'cos I wouldn't imagine many expats there, it's just about bang in the middle of Pt.

ceolchick

Well, we're learning! We seem to have got by, fiscal numbers, opening bank account, buying a house all seemed a bit easy!!...we thought we'd end up in all sorts of queues, translation difficulties but all went smoothly (crossing fingers for house!) so far....

pdr

When I bought my property in 2007, I transferred the money to my lawyers account in one go. I've just looked at the papers, and I paid no tax, or additional charges at all. Of course, things may have changed in the last 6 years!

liveaboard

There are no taxes when you move money [or anything else] within Europe.
But you will have a currency exchange; banks tend to charge a lot for that, and when you buy a house you can save a percent or more by using a specialist currency exchange / transfer service.

Personally, they make me a bit nervous since there's always the possibility that they go under during the day that they're handling your money. But the risk is very low, and many people have done it that way.

Mike

I can arrange the transfer for you.
Have a look at our website www.premfx.com
You will get a better rate than the bank and there will be no fees.
The process is quite simple; you make a domestic transfer to our Barclays Client A/C in London and we do the international transfer from there to your lawyer.
Funds are held in secure Client accounts which are separate from our trading accounts, just the same as your lawyer will do.
Feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions and I can call you on Monday if you like.
Thanks,
Mike.

ceolchick

Thanks for the info guys. I have an account with a couple of brokers and moved the deposit with one a couple of days ago. Know what you mean about it being scary - friends of ours in Portugal lost £55,000 as their's went under over the weekend they held their money - this was 6/7 years ago and they're still waiting for it to go to court! Thanks Mike, should be ok using the one I did (HiFX) they seemed ok this time anyway!

Ok, I couldn't understand why my lawyer would pay taxes when I haven't paid any taxes or fees so far exchanging. My bank is going to send a cheque book, so I'll also have that option.

mshlgw

There are a large number of expats in Central Portugal. We are not all in the Algarve and Figueiro dos Vinhos and surrounding area is popular with expats

Mike

OK, no problem. If you just want a second opinion then I'm more than happy to help.
FX firms should always hold funds in Client A/C's. In the event that the firm goes under then they cannot be accessed by anyone else. Liquidators, creditors have no access or rights. They remain yours and the holding bank will return them to you.
Taxes. I paid mine on completion at the cashpoint! Receipt shown to Notary who then proceeded with deed.
Hope all goes well with your purchase and you enjoy your new property.

mfesharne

Ceolchick

When you do get to Figueiro Dos Vinhos there'll be times when you need advice on a variety of things from someone in the town hall & the 'go to' man there is Senor Bruno who issues the Resedencias etc but he's much more than that.

He knows everything about & everyone in the Town Hall & most people outside of it, is extremely nice & very helpful & to top it off, is a fluent English speaker.

You'll find his office by entering the town hall, going up the main staircase to the 2nd floor then turn right & it's the 1st or 2nd office on the left.

ceolchick

Fab, thanks mfesharne, it's info like that which will help in bucket loads when we move!

mfesharne

Always a pleasure to be of help.

We've moved countries twice now and I know from experience how hard it is to find the right man & the best place etc to get/find out what you need and both moves were made considerably easier for us by a variety of good people (both Portuguese and other nationalities) who were kind enough to help and are still helping us.......... and all I'm doing is repaying that. - I think the Americans call it 'paying it forward'

So when you do get over here, keep in touch and I'll be happy to help where I can.

ceolchick

We've moved countries twice too - (I've also lived in England, Wales, Scotland) but we only moved to Republic of Ireland, so at least we understand the language - although we do live on a Gaeltacht island! Changing our UK registered car to Irish was as much of a nightmare as it sounds to be in Pt, it took us 4 months of form filling/NCT (MOT) back and forward to offices of people who were never there and as we live on an island and have to catch a 45 minute ferry to the mainland, that did get a bit annoying!

So that has given us a little knowledge of changing our lives, it's very quiet and peaceful here, and seems to be where we're going.

Where was I? oh yes, just a thanks for all the info which I know will come in handy!