My tax attorney and accountants have stated that capital gains are taxable in Portugal under the NHR, unless they originate from a jurisdiction that maintains the right to tax the gains.
This basically means that if youâre an American citizen, you wonât have to pay capital gains in Portugal under the NHR, because you still have to pay America.
If youâre hailing from somewhere else, where your capital gains wonât be taxed at home because you are a tax resident in Portugal, then you will have to pay capital gains in Portugal.
So basically there isnât a situation where you pay no taxes.
You may find this tax calculator helpful: https://mytaxes.pt (who themselves confirm my lawyersâ point with the following:)
Capital gains from securities (such as stocks and shares) falls under the NHR but most countries do not have taxation rights and therefore Portugal taxes them in a 28% rate (35% for black listed jurisdictions). The notable exceptions is US citizens - since the US has a right to tax all of the income of US citizens, Portugal should not be taxing for capital gains achieved by Americans.
Unlike most western countries, the US does actually not participate in AEOI/CRS, relying only on FATCA. The US may share information about US-based accounts of residents of other FATCA-reporting countries, however this isnât an automatic process.
I read somewhere the foreign govt might simply request the data from the US govt if the foreign govt is suspicious of what youre telling them.
Wouldnt surprise me if, like everything else, some company is selling account data to foreign governments. Ever use Mint or the like? They sell everything they collect.
I havenât asked my team about these tax deferred accounts specifically so you may want to get advice there. But my laymanâs reading of the phrase âThe US maintains the right to tax capital gainsâ suggests to me you may have a loophole in that their choice not to tax it (yet) does not remove their right to do so. It seems ambiguous enough to me to warrant a conversation with a tax professional in Portugal.
Portuguese PM AntĂłnio Costa submitted his resignation today, after learning that he is the target of a criminal case.
As youâll note from the top of this thread, it was his governmentâs 2024 state budget that outlined the end for NHR. But given todayâs eventsâŠ
âŠeverything changed this Tuesday.
The NotĂcias ao Minuto portal has already pointed out that the current proposal will disappear from Parliamentâs agenda because the Government will change.
Quoting the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic: âLaw and referendum proposals expire with the resignation of the Governmentâ .
In other words, weâll be ârunning aroundâ at the beginning of 2024 â it is not yet known what the President of the Republic will decide, the most likely being the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic. So, we will wait for new elections and a new Budget. Just as happened in 2022: the State Budget for that year was rejected, there were early elections in January and the Budget was only approved⊠at the end of May.
The next steps are in the hands of the President, who will take advice on the subject. Not an easy decision as the last election was less than 2 years ago, won decisively. It could go in the direction of new elections (as very often the election results are as much about the leader of the party as about the party itself). Or it might go in the direction of a new PM being elected. Everyone is guessing at this point.
I think the president can either ask PS to form a new government or call for new elections. Not 100% sure what happens with the budget in the former case, but even if itâs tossed out Iâm quite certain they would just reintroduce it as is.
I expect weâll know more about the presidentâs decision on Thursday.
Thatâs exactly it. And the President who will be listening to the Council of State on Thursday, will thereafter speak to the nation. So nothing is set until his decision is made -and he will make it in the best interests of the country, trying to protect the budget to be voted as soon as possible. Without a budget voted everything for next year halts. And the budget is linked to the PRR (budget from the EU which has a timeline for implementation).
Obviously alternative parties want a chance at another election (hoping to win, or have more members of parliament) and will be stirring things in their interviews to shift the mood towards an election.
Portugalist (who I donât always agree with, but am hoping theyâre right this time) weighs inâŠ
With the governmentâs collapse, the proposed state budget has been rendered invalid. While a new government could submit a fresh proposal to end the NHR tax regime, it would need a clear majority and, more importantly, a similar desire to end the NHR regime. It is also likely that discussions on the new State Budget would not commence until at least March, possibly stretching as far as May.
Considering the fragmented nature of Portuguese politics following the scandal and the resignation of key government officials, the likelihood of any single party securing a decisive majority is slim. This political reality strengthens the case for the NHRâs continuation.
Well, according to the article attached by @PTbound, if the new budget for 2024 is not approved, the old 2023 budged will be used by dividing the total into 12 monthly parts, with some exceptions for emergencies.
All options are on the table. But the timing is not the best. But then is any timing ideal?
The President of Portugal (PR) could ask another senior member of the Socialist Party [PS] to take on the leadership temporarily (there is precedent for this as occurred when Antonio Guterres resigned in 2001). But in 2022, with the majority win of the PS led by Costa, the PR famously said at his Inauguration âNow that youâve won, and won for four and a half years⊠it wonât be politically easy for the face that won the elections in an undeniable and remarkable way to be replaced by another [face] halfway through." His point was that the vote was for the PS led by a particular man. And he suggested at the time that should Costa leave before his 4.5 year term was up (eg to accept another post), the PR would call an election.
These words are being used now to remind the PR, change the mood, and speculate that the PRâs own statements in 2022 may have closed the door to an option (replacement of one leader by another) that he might have preferred now.
Then again, there is the timing of the budget and budget approval. Yes, the option outlined has been used before. But it might also make sense to give time for the budget (which has been approved as a whole, but not in detail) to proceed as planned. Which of the options is best for the country?
And which option would give some margin of time for the PS â which is weakened by the departure of Costa, but still popular without Costa - to get itself in a position to govern and/or face a fair election?
This is a thoughtful PR, and he will ruminate and take advice and see what is just and justified in the immediate and mid-term future in this democracy.
We shall see what he says on Thursday.
I think Madaleinaâs point referred to in the IMI link from a couple of days ago doesnât hold, because Costaâs resignation hasnât been formally accepted yet. Marcelo is holding it in abeyance, to allow the budget to be passed later this month. Once thatâs done, the resignation is formally accepted, the government falls and the assembly is dissolved.
Yep, thatâs my understanding as well. Letâs just hope they donât forget to add in an exemption in the budget law to allow those waiting for their residence permit to apply for NHR once approvedâŠ