sambo76

Apologies for bringing this up again, trying to work out how it may impact my relocation to PT (I'll keep it brief).

My wife & I are English, also holding Australian citizenship. We will be in Portugal this July viewing property/locations but most likely will not be ready to move before October 31st. We intend to apply for NHR, do people think Brexit (worse-case no deal) will impact NHR applications post-Oct, and/or is there anything I can do in the mean time to get the ball rolling. We're currently based in Panama so we cannot spend much time in Portugal this year. TIA

RichardHenshall

Brexit, if & when & in whatever form will have no direct effect on an application for NHR status. To apply for NHR status you must first become a registered resident. Becoming a resident may become more difficult for a Brit, post-Brexit, but there isn't really anything you can do to make the residency process easier other than move to Portugal before Brexit, or discover a route to another (non-British) EU citizenship.

EMR

DOES the applicants country of current tax residence affect qualification for NHR.?.

Red Eric

No, although income arising from tax havens doesn't qualify for exemption from PT tax if that's what you're getting at.

RichardHenshall

Only in that it mustn't have been Portugal during the preceding 5 years.

sambo76

Panama oddly enough is not considered a tax haven by PT, more so Channel Islands, Isle of Man etc. Not that many expats living in Panama earn their money locally, it's a 'developing' country...

EMR

Yes it was .

sambo76

PT & Panama have a double tax agreement; it's not considered a haven lol!

sambo76

Thanks Richard, that's my understanding too. It's unlikely I will be registering as a PT resident pre-October so I guess we need to see how the land lies once this mess is sorted; what PT offer UK citizens following Brexit. There is the Golden Visa option as a dual-citizen (none'EU) but the costs of going down that route are far greater than NHR and probably something I wouldn't consider as a result. Guess we just wait and see...

riv

Just thinking aloud : is there any reason you can't pay a short visit this summer or even in October and start renting ( eg somewhere cheap as a basis for looking for a more permanent home in due course ) ?
By October you should be able to get quite cheap three month rentals in emptying seaside towns.

Once you have a rental contract, register at the local Ca^mara, open a bank account with your Portuguese address, obtain an NIF ~I would have thought that constitutes establishing residence, but being 'resident' does not stop you returning to Panama or wherever for however long ?

sambo76

Thanks riv, this was kind of the angle I was looking at too, but the more I look into it, the less likely it is to work for me. But yep, in normal circumstances I could do exactly as you say and then return to current location in order to tie up any loose ends and move back to PT.