Does Portugal Golden Visa affect Non-Habitual Resident qualification & timing?

Residencies & citizenships Portugal Golden Visa 🇵🇹
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If you get a PGV with hotel investment and in the process a bank account and file taxes, does this affect your ability to initiate NHR after you get your citizenship and start the 10 year timer for no tax on worldwide income then? I read that you could not have paid taxes before in Portugal and qualify for NHR?

Portugal D7 Visa: Guide to Portugal’s D7 Visa 2022 - Portugal.com

See Section 5 first paragraph:

5. Tax Incentives: Non-Habitual Tax Regime

With a Portugal Golden Visa, Portugal D7 Visa, and Portugal D2 Visa, you can become a non-habitual resident (NHR) and enjoy the incentives of this fiscal regime. This tax regime allows you to transfer your tax residency to the country. To be eligible, you cannot have been taxed in Portugal during the five years before the application. However, this does not apply to corporate tax.

Here are the benefits of this tax regime:

  • You can be eligible to not pay ANY tax on pensions, rental income, real estate gains, and income from non-Portuguese sources if your country has a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) with Portugal. You would instead pay taxes in your country of origin. The UK, USA, and many more countries have a DTA with Portugal where this is the case.
  • If your pension income is taxed in Portugal, it will be at a flat rate of 10%, including retirement savings and insurance.
  • Income from “high value-added activities” in Portugal is taxed at 20%. This includes employment and self-employment income from activities of scientific, artistic, or technical character performed in Portugal. Still, you will pay the same income tax as ordinary tax residents for other types of domestic income.
  • You will only be taxed on your worldwide income after the first 10 years of residence.
  • Foreign interest, dividends, rents, and property capital gains can be exempted from taxation.
  • You will not pay an inheritance or wealth tax.

And also… Guide to the Non-Habitual Resident Tax Regime - Portugal.com

Guide to NHR Tax Regime

What is the Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) Tax Regime in Portugal?

The attractive tax regime for non-habitual residents was introduced in 2009 in order to attract “high-value” talent and wealth to Portugal. The NHR tax regime is available to all new tax residents in Portugal that were not Portuguese tax residents for the 5 years prior. The NHR status is granted for 10 years and cannot be renewed. Let’s go through the benefits of the NHR tax regime.

Benefits of the Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) Tax Regime in Portugal

Bear in mind that the following benefits only last for 10 years. After that, you will become a regular tax resident like other citizens and will have to abide by the traditional fiscal regime.

I assume that until you spend over 183 days in Portugal and become a tax resident, you will qualify for NHR only at that time. Is this right? Thanks

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Kevin, this is not correct.
You don’t need to spend 183 days or indeed any days in PT in order to become a PT tax resident as long as you have a habitual residence in PT.

So what actually matters for the NHR eligibility is the moment (rather a moment in a calendar year) at which you become registered by Autoridade Tributaria (AT) as a PT tax resident - meaning in practice that the postal address of your habitual residence in PT becomes registered as you tax residence address.
After that moment, you would have until March 31st the following calendar year to apply for NHR.
As I understand this is a hard deadline that cannot be extended or waived.

By the way, the PT GV is a separate process, not related or affecting in any way the tax residency status.

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