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Insights into what is involved in buying, selling & living in Portugal

Non Habitual Residence (10 years exemption)

Non-habitual residents Portuguese special tax regime Introduction Portugal created a special personal income tax regime for new residents which offers attractive tax opportunities for foreign pensioners. This summary provides a brief overview and explains the main guidelines and potential implications of this regime for foreigners and Portuguese individuals settling in Portugal after an extended period of living abroad. Read more →

Is it still worth it?

There was a time in which not a single Spanish law firm that prided itself would pass on the opportunity to heartily recommend its affluent non-resident client base (and even foreign residents) to acquire and own property in Spain by means of corporate structures ranging from the simple to the overtly complex often involving a multijurisdictional approach. Read more →

Disclosure of assets in Belgium

Further to the recent negotiations on the 2013-2014 budget, the new Bill of 17 July 2013 imposes a notification measure re private estate and off-shore structures in which Belgian tax payers are, directly or indirectly, involved. Envisaged structures A new notion is inserted to the Belgian income tax code, the so-called ‘legal constructions’, by which private estate structures and off-shore entities are envisaged. Read more →

New austerity measures

Salaries go down as Social Security goes up Private workers will lose one salary, whilst public employees will lose two It was the first time that a Government measure was received with such unanimous opposition, but when Pedro Passos Coelho announced last Friday (September 7) that all workers would see their monthly contribution to Social Security increase by seven percentage points as of 2013, everyone – regardless of their political stance – agreed to disagree with the Portuguese Prime Minister. Read more →

Evaluations of older properties

In December 2003, new rules concerning municipal property tax (Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis) came into force. A new code was also approved: the Código do Imposto Municipal Sobre Imóveis (CIMI). Those new rules were created to assess the patrimonial value of urban properties closer to their real market value. Therefore, almost all new properties completed or traded after December 1 2003 were already evaluated according to the 37th article and the following ones of CIMI. Read more →

Re Valuation of properties in 2012

Together with the proposed 2012 Portuguese Budget is a document proposing rectification to the 2003 general property reform. The 2003 changes established a 10 year period to achieve a general revaluation for tax purposes of all property in Portugal. In addition the Memorandum of Understanding concerning the economic assistance promised earlier this year to Portugal by the EU and IMF established a promise that the conclusion of the general revaluation should be achieved by the end of 2012. Read more →

Divorce in Portugal

Unfortunately these things happen here as well. The legal procedures for termination of a marriage agreement by divorce can be relatively straight forward if both partners agree to divorce, are of the same nationality, were married in Portugal, and have nor children or financial commitments. However, for foreign residents living in Portugal this will rarely be the case. Read more →

Commissions rate

Agents face a world of lower commissions New ways of working are imposing a world of lower commission rates on overseas property agents. Online marketing, online lead generation, the economic slump, more sophisticated buyers questioning agency or introducer payment terms, smaller down-payments and a glut of bank repossessions are all combining to push average commission rates down to low single figures in a number of key markets. Read more →

Environmental-friendly houses

Portugal the last couple of years tries to be a front-runner when it comes to using alternative energy sources. With well over 3000 hours of sunshine no doubt our country offers a lot of possibilities in this respect. Maybe the following article is interesting to read. New Jersey school of architecture professor indicates us how to construct an environmental-friendly residence on a budge Read more →