toots sweet

I have a NIF and live in UK. I have a bank account(joint with O/F),utente number. We have bought a house in Central PT(south),for which you will need a NIF.They will occasionally ask you for your nif in shops(I was asked in a shoe shop).Not sure why(doesn't bother them if you aren't able to give on),but maybe it has something to do with contributions for social services/premium bond ?(maybe someone else can help here).Always asked in supermarket if we need a contribuente,and you can give them your NIF.

RichardHenshall

Obtaining your NIF is just an incidental formality that is needed for normal life in Portugal (or outside Portugal but with ties such as owning property).

qianh

You can have deduction on your tax for household spending, if you are living in Portugal and pay PT tax, it's not small sum, for grocery alone you can get 250 euro per person so I am giving my NIF to every shop.

campos

Sorry for my tortuous clarification above lol. Apologies
I assumed the NIF didn't change, just its status.
My point was that one becomes (NIF) resident at SAME address one had as (NIF) NON resident: one simply (!) updates one's NIF STATUS at the SAME address.

bons

I'm still confused by the implication of it all. I'm guessing you have to have an address in Portugal. Could I get the temporary one, then come back and sell my house? where would I be considered a tax resident in this scenario, I don't want to pay CGT on my property here. Oviously, selling up first, if possibe, would be the best way.

RichardHenshall

The address that the NIF is initially registered at will not be in Portugal. This 'non-resident' individual will move to Portugal to live at an address and will then register that residency and update the address record at Finanças (using the certificate of registration of residency) afterwards.

You could have used that address for 3 months and then gone back home without ever becoming a resident. It's the decision to stay and register that causes the transition. The body you register residency with is not the same body that holds the address record for your NIF.

It's like buying a house. You typically use your old address for the contract and mortgage application but the new one for utilities etc. There is a transition from one address to the other that doesn't necessarily happen instantaneously or simultaneously.

Rambling archer

So to do anything money-wise in Portugal you need your Number Identifyant Fiscal - NIF (Fiscal identification number). You call into the Financas office with relevant documents to prove who you are and where you live at that time - could be UK, could be Madrid - so you get your number. You need this number to get a bank account, and a legal rental contract, and anything else you might do with Admin in Portugal. So you get your rental organised, and look round the local estate agents - they may even help you find your rental for you ...
You go back to your home country to sort out your affairs, and come back when that is done, take up your rental accommodation and look round for a house, having transferred money into your Portuguese bank account to pay your rent, to have ready to pay your deposit on a house, to pay a lawyer if you want one, etc etc and your NIF will normally be quoted on your invoices (for eventual tax purposes but don't worry about that).
Now you can apply for your residency, either from your rental address (with copy of contract), or wait the 90 days, or when you buy your house (with copy of the Escritura - deeds), whichever is best for you. You will quote your NIF at the Camara/Town Hall when you apply for your residency and pay a small fee. Then with your new address on the Residency certificate, you take that to the Financas to get your NIF registered as a Resident at that new address (be it the rental address - to be changed again later when you settle your permanent abode), and go to your bank to change the address officially there. (And also go to the Social Security office to get admitted to the Health Service). You may have got a Portuguese phone at some time, so get that written up by the bank and the other agencies you use too - yes, you will have quoted your NIF to buy the phone too !!
Hope that makes it a bit clearer?
Edit - I see that RH has given a good response while I was typing, but will leave my twopennyworth anyway ---