The Non-Habitual Residence (NHR) regime offers qualified individuals the opportunity to become tax resident of a white list jurisdiction, legally avoiding or minimizing income tax on certain categories of income, including, capital gains for 10 years.

In Portugal in 2009, the NHR tax regime came into force, successfully attracting self-employed individuals, pensioners and qualified professionals to reside in Portugal for tax purposes, while not being subject to minimum or maximum stay requirements.

Documents requiered:

It does not. The NHR isn’t a visa. It is a tax regime that might reduce your tax liability, and on some occasions secure tax exemption depending on the sources of income and the country of source.

In due to be illegible for the NHR, the applicant must have a valid residence permit in Portugal.

The NHR regime will not provide you with an automatic exemption on all foreign sources of income. The possible benefits and exemptions are assessed particularly, taking into account each source of income and its country of origin to assess as precisely as possible the means by which the income will be taxed in Portugal under NHR.

Although NHR means non-resident, it does not imply that you are not registered as a Portuguese taxpayer. NHR is available to tax residents who have not been in the country for the previous 5 years. As a tax resident you must stay in Portugal for at least 183 consecutive or interspersed days within a 12 month period.

The NHR is a fairly stable and resilient regime, having undergone only one major change. This change concerns the year 2020, when the Portuguese government decreed to change the tax rate on pension income in some cases from 0% to 10% in order to align with international taxation standards.

It will only affect the tax status of the individual that enrolls in this regime.

Extra Requirements:

  • To be eligible as a “non-regular resident”, you must register as a tax resident of Portugal after not having been resident in this country for at least the previous 5 years.
    Under the terms of the law, a non-registered individual will be considered resident for tax purposes if they spend more than 183 days in the country during a 12 month period, or if they enjoy a place of residence in the country. However, there is no minimum stay requirement for a registered tax resident in Portugal.

     

  • Except EU, EEA and Swiss citizens have an automatic right to live in Portugal and a legal obligation to register accordingly, and individuals of other nationalities must obtain a residence permit.

     

  • The recognition of the non-habitual resident status is granted for a period of 10 years, upon request to the Portuguese tax authorities until 31 March of the year following the year in which the Portuguese residence was accepted. Only after successful admission of the application you are recognised in this status.

     

  • Therefore, you must request an application and a declaration that the applicant was not resident for tax purposes in Portugal during the 5 years preceding his/her arrival in Portugal. Only if the tax authorities have doubts as to the veracity of what is declared will they request additional documentation to include a tax residence certificate from the previous country and/or a document proving that the applicant’s vital and economic interests were focused on another country during the previous 5 years.

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