SimonMicheal

Hi Everyone,

I'm English living in Argentina with Argentine wife and 1 year old.

I work in IT currently for an American company who pay me in dollars into my Spanish bank account. Complicated right.

So my question is if we move to Portugal do I need to pay taxes on my USA income? I heard there's some tax break for overseas income.

With my money being paid into a Spanish account if I live in Portugal do I even have taxable income ?

RichardHenshall

The scheme you allude to is described here.

Unless you are physically present outside Portugal when working you may well be considered to have Portuguese income. The location of your bank account is irrelevant, except for the taxation on any interest you may earn.

macliam

Richard will know more than me, but as I understand it, if your work is physically undertaken in Portugal (regardless of where the client may be) then you are liable to tax in Portugal and even if you go abroad to work temporarily, unless you have a fiscal base in that country, you will still be deemed to be tax resident in Portugal and your income liable here.

Given that, to apply for Non-habitual Residency, you must have declared residency and tax-residency in Portugal then you will either need to declare your US employment/income or declare yourself "self-employed" (in advance). Having your salary paid into a foreign bank account is likely to draw attention to you - and since fiscal information is now being shared it won't help you anyway. Since the penalties for presumed tax avoidance are quite steep, your best course of action is to find a compliant way to limit your tax liability.