Doesnât the act of owning a house in Portugal, even if you spent less than 183 days in the country, make you a PT tax resident?
Actually, it doesnât. Imagine you have a vacation home in Lisbon and reside full-time in NĂŒrnberg. Does it make you tax resident in Portugal or Germany?
I was going by the following language which is included in the criteria to be considered a PT tax resident:
- have accommodation (your own or rented) that you intend to maintain and occupy as your habitual residence, on any day in the period referred to in the preceding point
Thatâs your answer. This is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition. Otherwise half of Europe with vacation homes in Algarve would be automatically viewed as PT tax residents.
Yes, it does, in a sense of you being able to register this address with AT and thus become a tax resident in PT. You donât have to stay 183+ days in PT for that.
This scenario can make you a tax resident in Germany only, or in both Germany and PT if you so choose.
It is indeed both necessary and sufficient condition. Half of Europe simply choose not to make use of a possible tax residency in PT because they probably would not gain any benefit out of this.
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Yea, I get it but the language is ambiguous as âintentionâ is a qualitative interpretation vs something measurable.
I think thereâs a misunderstanding or unintended misstatement here.
If you have a place of abode that is habitual, that is necessary and sufficient. Well, that, plus you actually have to file with AT if you actually want it to happen. Unless of course AT finds out and comes after you, which is probably highly unlikely, but probably also not impossible.
If you have a vacation home in the Algarve and use it as such, then that is not sufficient, since it isnât a habitual residence; merely owning property is not a cause of tax residency. If AT came after you, you might have to somehow prove itâs a vacation home, but this wonât be that hard for most people most of the time.
I think thatâs the net of what you are both trying to say.
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Agreed, and thatâs what I was getting to / making sure I understood. With the NHR going away, I donât see why a US citizen would want to become a PT tax resident (purely from a financial standpoint).
Yes, completely. This applies in the US too, and probably many other places. Itâs a weight-of-evidence thing. Where do you spend your time more? Where is your job, if any? Where is your social life, club memberships? Where are your cars licensed? Where, in other words, do you call home?
This comes up a lot in NY; people leave Manhattan for FL, claim to have moved to FL, but keep their apartment and spend a bunch of time in NYC; NY tax authorities come after you and make you prove you left through your actions, and it is all subjective.
AFAIK, PT is no different. And yes you end up with fuzzy answers. Itâs like PT citizenship for kids. Itâs a subjective judgment.
I feel there is still some confusion here around PT tax residency and its usability/usefulness.
@PCERoman @jb4422 - letâs forget about PT for a moment. Are you guys aware there are some countries in this world where you can visit for a couple of days, arrange some paperwork, and thus become a tax resident in the said country?
Thereafter you may never set foot in that country except for a necessary renewal of âpaperworkâ. Now do you think this country would challenge your âabsenceâ if you start paying some taxes there despite not being physically present?
Of course not. It would be the other countryâs tax authority who youâd need to satisfy in your intention to âmove outâ of their tax residency.
Now back to PT - it is essentially one of such âtax-friendlyâ countries I described earlier.
No disagreement to that.
Now Iâm not quite sure what all weâre talking about here anymore 
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Agreed! Thatâs why there are options to opt in and opt out of PT tax residency, NHR notwithstanding.
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Unfortunately it is not that easy.
First of all, if you want to be tax resident in other european countries. Letâs say in Germany. Then you must have some sort of long term residency in Germany.
However, once you have long term residency in Germany, Aima will refuse to give you long term residency.
I know it does not state clearly by law. But it is highly unlikely that you have two long term residencies in Europe.
I researched this matter thru other forum and facebook. But I might be 100% wrong.
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How would AIMA even know that youâre a resident in Germany?
And are you talking about tax resident (which is what is relevant for NHR, but has nothing to do with AIMA), or just legal residency as a non-EU citizen?
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Thatâs what I am curious too. But I am sure that between european members there are data exchange and each member can see it on the computer. All residencies are associated with your passport number. For sure they can put in your passport number in the system and it shows all residency in EU that you are currently having.
I am talking about the gerenal residency, am not talking about NHR. However, residency is coupled with NHR. If you sign up for NHR, then you must remain in the country more than 183 days per year. It means that you must have long term residency. Of course, as I understand, if you sign up for NHR and usually no one actually checks how many days you are in Portugal, then thing is OK.
Fairly certain this is not true
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The documentation here: Already in the EU? - European Commission suggests that this is not the case, and that you can have long term residence in one EU country (see the response to the question As a long-term resident in one EU country, can I live and work in a second EU country?)
Absolutely certain this is not true!