Apply to NHR by myself?

Tax and legal
1

Hi,

I want to apply to NHR (I have opened an activity in Portal de Financas already) and, although it seems straightforward to do it (as described here), most firms I see online charge you around €500.

Anyone in here has applied (and obtained) NHR by applying him/her self? Is there any specific knowledge I need to have in order to do that and that’s why it is so expensive?

Thanks,
andres

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2

Hi Andres,

I’m thinking of doing the same on my own and bypassing the agency fees. This site makes it sound somewhat straightforward:

Please share what path you decided on.

Thank,
Mike

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3

They charge that much because people from countries where everything a lawyer does for you is expensive either don’t know how to do it themselves, or are unable to find a ‘how-to’ on the web, or haven’t yet searched forums for recommendations to low cost companies or accountants who do it for MUCH less. The guide from Finanças you linked to is all anyone needs.

4

Thanks Dan, that is my current assumption, just want confirmation.

Have you applied yourself or know anybody that did so by themselves?

5

I did it by myself. I used Chrome browser to translate the Finanças site into English, then used trial and error to figure out how to register.

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6

Yes, I will do that by myself as well, because many accountants tried to rip me off.
Even if I maybe no need it, because I have really low earnings, maybe in future it will be useful for me.
I really appreciate this answer.
My question is, when I declare my taxes I can choose to declare on normal rate or NHR ?
Thank you.

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7

Hi Ilija,

Yes, it’s unbelievable how they try to rip off people.

I assume you do apply the NHR rates, but I’ve never done it. I’d probably hire an accountant for that as a one-off job, a cheap one given that my declaration should be straightforward.

8

I finally got to apply and got “Deferido” already which means accepted. It’s really easy to do, just search for “Residente Não Habitual” → Entregar Pedido, put the year in which you’ve started as a freelancer (if it’s 2021, you got until 31st March 2022 to do it, if you started in 2022, you got until 31st March 2023 to apply), make sure the activity code with which you started the activity is NHR-eligeble, and that’s it.

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9

Hey Andreas, tell me where I can find that list of eligible activities ?
I am artist, designer, Painter I think that all goes in that list.

10

What is NIF Mandatário ?
When I click Submeter they said “Não se pode colocar a si próprio como mandatário.”
I don’t understand ?

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11

What is NIF Mandatário ?

I think this is when you got someone representing you. In your case just leave it empty.

Hey Andreas, tell me where I can find that list of eligible activities ?

Check here: https://portaldascomunidades.mne.gov.pt/images/GADG/IRS__Regime_Fiscal_Residente_Não_Habitual.pdf

although I’m not sure that’s up-to-date, so do a search just in case, I couldn’t find an official list anywhere other than that.

12

It indeed doesn’t hurt to have the NHR Status.

We were told by several accountants that you can choose yearly whether you declare “Normal” or under the “NHR” regime.

13

Found this which looks like the official list:

https://dre.pt/dre/detalhe/portaria/230-2019-123407856

which is linked from:

if that’s not the up-to-date list, then the Portuguese government is not updating it, which is totally plausible.

14

They refuse me, ad said that I am already resident in Portugal, and I don’t understand what is the problem, because I did that before 31th March.

15

The requirement is that you haven’t been a Portuguese fiscal resident in the past 5 years, and, if you are since last year, you’d have until the 31st March of this year to apply. Are you a fiscal resident on PT? If so, since when?

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16

Yes, I come last year in April…and I didn’t pay taxes here before that…I just wrote some recibos verdes…but this is my first year when I need to declare.

17

Hello, I was also just refused. Did you manage to change their decision?

18

sure you can easily do it by yourself following this guideline, I did it and got it in one week , but note as I posted previously my wife’s application is held still on Indeferido “proyecto de decisao” because she left portugal in 1994 and never changed her address and never came back to Portugal until 2022, however she did not answer the mail from AT Tax Authority on time where they insist she was here during the past 5 years and now we have made several attempts showing our official translated residence permit in China but so far no luck, we even submitted the famous form to retroactively change her address. so seems like we will need legal help +/- 500 euros !

19

Hello. Sorry, but I didn’t understand clear. What is NIF Mandatário. Is it Nif from my previos tax residency country or it is nif of my tax representative?
I don’t have tax representative, then I leave it empty? If empty, then why field called “mandatory”.
Regards

Upd1:
What is" NIF Mandatário?"
It’s a common misunderstanding that “NIF Mandatário” means “NIF Mandatory” or “Taxpayer NIF”, according to Google Translate. Based on these translations, it’s easy to think that you should input your own NIF number into that field.

However, a more accurate translation for “NIF Mandatário” is “NIF Proxy” which is the NIF number of a third party who will represent you. You may think that this should be your fiscal representative, but after you change your address to a Portuguese address, you become a Portuguese tax resident and your fiscal representative will be removed. While you can elect a third party (e.g. lawyer) to be your NIF proxy, it is optional and most people will leave this field empty and submit your NHR application.