bcaro

Hi everyone, hope you had a lovely festive season!

We are a young couple (EU national and UK national on D7 visa) moving to Lisbon from London this year, excited to learn from others that have made this change and look forward to getting to know Portugal.

If anyone has recommendations for English speaking accountants that can help us register as independent contractors (we will be digital remote workers) in the tax system and apply for the NHR scheme please DM!

Thanks, Caroline
​​​​​​

Alan PT

Definitely sensible to look for a good accountant to help you navigate the process, but it also helps to have some background knowledge, so you can ask the right questions. Try this for starters, but also you'll find other useful threads if you search the forum: https://www.lisbob.net/en/blog/freel...l-step-by-step

BTW, if an accountant tries charging you lots of money to register for NHR, find another accountant. It's really a pretty easy process, so it's outrageous that some accountants charge 1000euro+ to do it - it's probably about 30 mins work!

macliam

It seems more important that the accountant is well versed in Portuguese tax law, than that he speaks fluent English, however I'd make a call to Eurofinesco and see if Dennis Swng Greene can help you.
https://docplayer.net/18233416-Self-...-portugal.html

sportpix

I was given similar advice about a year ago and when I contacted the company mentioned I was told I would need to pay x euro just for an initial chat. As such I didn’t bother to call again.

Score76

I second sportpix's experience too. Had the initial chat with Eurofinesco about 4 years ago in their Guia office around tax and investments. The advice I received was poor, the fees they were proposing were shocking. They appear to be geared towards expats with more money than sense.

sportpix

I forgot to mention the x euro fee demanded was for an initial phone chat …

macliam

OK, I've not had any dealings with Dennis for a few years, so I'll stop recommending based on your feedback.

He certainly wasn't like that, as I first met him on a free talk he gave to the community in my area about changes to the Portuguese tax system. He then gave me some useful advice about a particular issue I had - although this was hardly complex. As the author of books on the Portuguese system and a long-term resident in Portugal, he seemed a good port of call for the expat - but it seems things may have changed.

MilkyMilky

I've also had a bad experience recently with EuroFinesco - talked with a Director, who indicated they could advise on tax savings for a Sole Trader arrangement, and future investment advice. I signed up, and it took 3 months of trying to contact them to get anything actually done - I had to complain to the Director to get any response. In the end their tax advice turned out to be 'change your Activity with the Financas to be something incorrect - they never really check'. The only thing they seem to be on top of. is sending out their own invoices for services they have not provided - 6 weeks after paying for 3 months of their Sole Trader arrangement, they were asking for another 3 months money.

Needless to say, I came across this thread while looking for an English speaking accountant (Porto or remote who can work with email / Skype), to advise on my financial affairs professionally and in full compliance.

MilkyMilky

That applies to most things in Portugal these days...

Dafty

Things have indeed changed.

The original MD,s son in law took over and it,s been all downhill since then !

Alan PT

I recommend the book from Blevins Franks, but their advisory services are also eye-wateringly expensive, they are really catering to those with 1+ million...

But if the OP doesn't have any complex cross-border financial arrangements then they would be much better off with a Portuguese accountant than an ex-pat advisory service anyway

If there's a co-work space near where you'll be then it might be a good idea to hang out and meet some people there, they will likely have someone they can recommend. I can give you the details of someone who works out of Second Home Lisboa if you like, but better to find someone closer to where you'll be ideally.

MilkyMilky

This is good advice.

bcaro

Thanks everyone, will forego Eurofinesco for now - we have an introductory call with Conceito later this week (recommended in other forum threads) for which I confirmed with them that I would not be billed - will pass on any useful bits from that!

Alan, if you're able to share your Second Home Lisboa contact that would be much appreciated, we will be in Lisbon and would definitely benefit from that space

Alan PT

Sure, sent you a DM with the accountant details. BTW, if anyone is curious, this is the Second Home Lisboa space https://secondhome.io/location/lisboa/
It was a little different from the offices where I worked in the UK! Also literally just above Mercado de Riberira and (most importantly) Manteigaria

SgtTroy

Imho, one practical thing you would need to bear in mind would be the IVA (VAT) registration and its impact on your activities.

VAT registration threshold in PT is fairly low - 12,500 eur or so, so you need to consider whether your end clients (wherever in the world they may be) would be comfortable with this.

That shouldn't be an issue for a larger client, but a smaller one may be put off as the effort for VAT recovery may turn out to be disproportional.