Since 2009, Portugal’s Non-Habitual Residence (NHR) tax scheme has been wildly successful at attracting pensioners, skilled workers, and investors to the country’s shores.
Looks like NHR being removed…
Yes, looks like it. But he makes it clear that anyone who already benefits from the regime will continue benefiting until their 10 years are up.
The exact timing isn’t clear either, just mentioning 2024.
If you’ve been wanting to utilize the scheme it may be prudent to register as resident of Portugal by the end of this year and apply for the NHR treatment by March next year by end of 2023 (to be on the safe side).
Can one get in the NHR program without living full-time in Portugal? My residency card through GV investment probably will take another 1.5 years to get.
Yes. The tax residency is not dependent on receiving GV, nor on the living in PT full-time (or any time at all).
I would not recommend putting it off until the 31 March 2024, as the NHR may be scrapped on 1 Jan 2024 for all we know…
OK, so resident and tax resident are not related in this case?
Though you are not wrong, it’s better to get it done ASAP, I would not be surprised if it took a while to sort out. I mean, look how long it took them to make changes to the golden visa after proposing them. 6-8 months at a minimum?
Does anyone know how long it takes to get the NHR assuming you are already a tax resident of Portugal? Like a week or two?
It takes a few days in that scenario.
They are related but not hard-wired 
Check the PT definition of tax residency.
Under double taxation treaties, wouldnt foreign source income be taxed at the source rather than PT? what are the true benefits of NHR?
Well, of course it would be taxed at source IF it is taxed at source.
Not all types of income are taxed at source.
Secondly, NHR gives local source income a big tax discount.
So if you have a GV, but currently live, earn and are tax resident in your home country, which has a DTAA with Portugal, is it a no-brainer to apply for NHR?
Earlier it might have made sense to defer the start of the 10 year clock, but that doesn’t hold anymore.
That is exactly right.
Deadline for NHR is 31 March of the year following the year when you became the PT tax resident.
Surely one would have to have some kind of residency visa before registering for NHR? Are you saying that the only requirement is to have a NIF and a residence of some kind in Portugal that one could claim as one’s principal residence?
Yes, that’s my understanding and practical experience too.
Just to note that you don’t have to claim that you have a ‘principal residence’ in order to get registered by AT.
Again, refer to the definition of the tax residency in the Portugal law, this would explain things better than I do.
I recommend though to perform the registration via your lawyers. My first attempt was by myself in person at an AT office but it failed.
I’m not sure, wouldn’t this require you to start filing taxes in Portugal? Seems like a lot of extra paperwork unless you’re sure you will benefit from NHR later.
Tax residency in a whole extra country is not something to take on lightly. You may find you have some income sources that are untaxed or have low taxes in your home country, but now you have to pay PT high taxes on them.
At very least you should consult with an international tax expert before doing this.
So one can apply without getting the GV residency card yet?