How to remove Portuguese NIF fiscal tax representative (while still resident outside Portugal)

Residencies & citizenships Portugal Golden Visa 🇵🇹
1

I found these instructions very helpful for removing the fiscal representative:

Context: Portuguese tax representation no longer required for non-EU residents

2

@tkrunning @tommigun is it correct to say that under the new law,

  • The main GV applicant who owns a property (used for GV) that is also used for economic activity (e.g. Mercan hotel) must still have a fiscal representative. Even if they are not paid any rent from the hotel themselves?
  • Minor children with NIF definitely do not need any representative.
  • Does a spouse still need a representative? The property is registered as in the main applicant’s name but under the “matrimonial property scheme”. However, looking at the Financas Portal under Documents and Certificates, the main applicant can get a certificate of property ownership, while the spouse can only get a certificate of negative property ownership. So I’m uncertain if the spouse has any “economic activity” that requires a representative?
3

You may be overthinking things.

You only need a tax rep if you are both:

  • non-EU
  • have economic activity

So do you have both?

4

Yes, live in USA, but have GV.

This is the party I’m fuzzy on. Does leasing a share of a hotel building to Mercan for no money count as economic activity? They are covering the annual property tax so I guess that is some money (but paid directly to PT, not us).

5

In the article they state:

In July 2022, the Portuguese Tax Authorities issued a new ruling that waived the obligation of maintaining a fiscal representative for non-residents under the following conditions:

  1. The person is not a tax resident of an EU/EU-aligned country.
  2. The person does not have any tax obligations in Portugal.
  3. The person has enabled electronic notifications on the Tax Office Portal (Portal das Finanças).

However, #2 is not quite true as you can still remove your tax representative if you have tax obligations in Portugal. It only applies to those who are self-employed and subject to VAT.

6

Thanks, is there a legal source for this?

I assume renting out real estate does not count as self-employed or make one subject to VAT?

7

#9 in this link - Registo Contribuinte > Identific > Representação Fiscal

From what I’ve read, there is an exemption if you collect less than €10,000. Would have to find the actual law though.