bobhopes2018

Hello everybody

I am a Self Employed individual living part time in Portugal, between 3-4 Months per year. I am renting an Apartment all year round here as it was alot cheaper than Having short term rentals, and its handy , everytime i need to get out of the London Rat Race for a Week or two, I can come here to the Flat in Portugal. I Was here in Portugal a total of 110 Days last year.

So I am registered in the UK for taxes and I pay online every year for the past 7 years. Now When I came to Portugal and rented the flat I needed to Get a NIF (Tax Number) in order to connect the electricity, water and internet at the apartment. The other day I was checking the paperwork on the NIF which I got from the finance offices here and it says I am a Resident of Portugal. Now as I said I have no income here, Earn No Money here, just come for short breaks now and again.

So, My question is, do I need to prove to anybody in the Finance department here that I am a UK tax resident or am i obliged to tell anybody here about it, since I am registered at the Financas with a NIF as being a portugal resident?

As I said I have no money coming in at all here from anywhere, and I pay the rent for the rented flat from the UK bank account every month

Any information appreciated

Thanks

Robert

Red Eric

Hi Robert and welcome to the forum.

That is something you need to sort out asap because if you're a resident of Portugal, you have an obligation to declare your worldwide income to the tax authorities here. You need to explain to Finanças that you're not and never have been resident and get them to amend their records.

bobhopes2018

Red ERIC

Thanks for your Reply.

The thing is, I talked to an Accountant in Portugal, and Explained my situation to them Exactly as I Did here, and they said, that as Long as I am Paying Taxes in the UK and Not Living here more than 183 Days Per calendar Year, I am under no obligation to Report to the Financas in Portugal.

So it appears there is confusion about this situation. I assume you are aware of this from Experience , so I would ask you , if you know /or could recommend any Accounting firm in Portugal I shoudl contact to clear up this Situation

Any help appreciated

Robert

Red Eric

No, I wasn't saying you need to report your income. I was saying if you're resident (which you aren't) you're required to do so.

If you're not resident (and you're clearly not), then you shouldn't be logged as such with Finanças and you need to get it changed.

If you're incorrectly flagged as resident, you run the risk of being considered one and of not complying with your obligations. You don't need an accountant to clear this up. Go to Finanças and tell them you're only an occasional visitor and you're incorrectly on their records as a resident.

bobhopes2018

Thanks for the message eric, okay I understand
Its amazing in Portugal, whenever I ask these kind of questions there's so many conflicting answers

But I see your point, I f I go there and tell them I am not resident , they should change me back to non resident

Thanks

robert

RichardHenshall

You might find it helpful to have documentary evidence that would support your claim to be non-resident and at your stated UK address, such as a series of utility bills, bank statements etc. I used a letter from HMRC (amongst others) when unappointing my Fiscal Rep, which seemed to be well received. None of it is real proof of non-residency but it makes it easier for them to believe that it's where you live.

DiDAN

I heard it's not so easy to stop being resident in Portugal, and definitely not as easy as to become.
Please let us know if you finally can change your status in the Finanças records.
I also heard you must be out of the country at the night 31 Dec - 1 Jan.

bobhopes2018

Thanks for the response

I went to an accountant this past weekend (a different one) for a second opinion. They said, that as long as I do NOT earn any income in Portugal and my NIF is Not on any Incoming money to my Bank account , the Financas have no legal grounds to make me pay tax, as Long as I have proof that All my work is in the uk and I pay taxes there every year. as I said previously, everybody seems to have a different answer

this particular account said the most important thing is that there is no income coming to my bank account under my portuguese NIF

Robert

Diddion

bobhopes2018

Didion

yes indeed, its just confusing here. My Main concern was that the financas would automatically ask me to Start sending in Tax returns due to my NIF being registered against a Portuguese address, but apparently no according to 2 Different accounting firms here. Manwhile, as you said, if I wanted to have NHR Status , then yes I would need to Correct this clerical Error at the Financas

John

RichardHenshall

John/Robert(?)

Based on your stated situation, if you were correctly recorded as a non-resident you would have no obligation to submit Portuguese tax returns. It's only because you are on record as a Portuguese resident that the potential requirement to declare worldwide income arises.

I have yet to gain experience on this matter but I suspect that there will also be differences in the treatment of your Portuguese assets (if not worldwide assets) on your death, if you are on record as a resident.

Stop visiting accountants and visit AT instead to get this sorted out!