We already have a GV and looking to purchase a property. Not intending it to be a permanent residence and we would be in country less than 183 days a year. We would still have NIF representation. I was thinkingt hat best bet seems like trying to rent it out in some capacity to make it look less like a residence.
What’s the best way to minimize the appearance it is a permanent residence and avoid triggering tax residency or am I overthinking it? We’re not ready to start paying PT income tax on worldwide income just yet. . .
Well, ‘triggering’ PT tax residency in this scenario is really your own choice.
I guess you may be confused by the dual criteria of the PT tax residency, i.e. the length of stay OR having a place where you can reside regardless of stay (rented or owned).
No confusion on the criteria other than the latter and what constitutes a permanent residence. Does simply owning a holiday property constitute a permanent residence? If so, would having an AL licence and being possibly occupied by a third party for periods of the year mean it’s not permanent?
I have a friend who bought an apartment in 2012 when the GV just started. The apartment has never been rented out. The family has been using it every year to fulfill GV requirement of 7 days in PT and had remained non-PT tax residents till now - their address on NIF remains foreign.
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Better to maintain good records/ proof of where your permenant home is, the strong links you have to that country, and how many days you spend in PT.
What consitutes as permanent residence is what you declare it to be.
I guess your questions are coming from the point of view that Portuguese authorities are going to approach you and challenge you to pay taxes on your worldwide income just because they ‘detect’ that you own a house there?
I don’t think it works that way 
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When you buy house in Portugal you will specify if it is a primary residence. If it is not a primary residence, there is a different property tax. That’s all I know but it seems similar to other countries.
The posters are right as it concerns your GV but AT may not agree if you rent it out. My residency triggered earlier this year when I changed NIF to my address here but my landlord had to declare my rental income to them for last year and this. Especially with the spotlight on GV I would advise talking to your tax attorney about renting it out.
Changing your address in AT to your overseas address will remove your PT tax residency. You can still own a property but not declare it as your permanent residence. (Along with physical presence testing and ties to your permanent residence country.
No, simply owning a house doesn’t confer anything having to do with tax residency. When you buy the property you can designate it as a secondary residence
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I have purchased a home in Portugal (May 2023). While I have a “fiscal representative”, I also have access to my Financas file online. How can I verify that my new home did not get listed as my primary residence? I’m not exactly confident of what I’m looking at on that website. Thanks in advance!
I’m sorry I don’t know because my fiscal representative was also the lawyer who handled the purchase. Was your fiscal representative not involved in house purchase?
Well, there’s two things:
- if your NIF is registered under your foreign address, then whatever property you own in PT must be your non-primary residence for PT purposes (that’s just my guesswork here);
- you look up how much tax you paid when you purchased your property, look up the tax rate for that year, and compare the two. You will know if you paid as ‘primary’ or ‘secondary’ tax. Tip: the secondary tax rate is higher.
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