Frequently asked questions
Why Portugal?
Portuguese Real Estate Market, mostly Lisbon and Porto, is booming since 2015, and each year it grows even more. Portugal is the first choice, out of many countries, by most tourists, because:
– It is one of the safest countries in Europe,
– The climate in Portugal pleases everyone. This country has a warm Mediterranean climate, its winters are so soft, quiet and short, and its summers are warm and long but cooled by agreeable sea breezes. This is a country where the light is particularly impressive. With an amount of light available naturally, no wonder why the movie industry loves shooting here. It’s hard to beat these advantages!
– The Portuguese are gracious and friendly, welcoming all visitors regardless of where they come from. And, in fact, visitors do come here from all over the world, as the country is located on the western coast of Europe and, as such, is a point of entrance into the Schengen zone. A large part of the population speaks foreign languages, specifically English, and the ones who do not understand it, still make an effort to help you out if you need.
– About the studies, Portugal have great school/universities wich you can choose from, mostly located in Lisboa, Porto and Coimbra.
– Style of life, Portuguese people have a really peacefull style of living, in 2016, Lisbon was voted one of the 42 cities in the world with the best quality of life, by the Worldwide Quality of Living Survey 2016.
– Portugal has an excellent geographical location. At the meeting point between three continents – Europe, Africa and America, it has always been central to the most important international routes. Portugal has five main airports spread strategically throughout the country (Lisbon, Porto, Algarve, Açores and Madeira). All of them fit all kind of budgets, from low-cost companies to first class and business class travel. Furthermore, the roads are also a plus, with highways connecting all the major cities and considered some of the best in Europe. And as Portugal is not a large country, people can get almost everywhere easily and efficiently by train or bus.
– Gastronomy & Wine Culture, Portugal is serious about wine. This country is considered one of the best wine destinations in the world and this does not happen by chance. Here, the Port Wine is the king of these nectars, but here are also produced the famous Alentejo and Minho wines. And as Portugal is a nautical nation, the seafood and fish dishes are simple divine. The Mediterranean influence is unsurprisingly strong and the game meat also gives a special touch to this incredible Cuisine. There are many supermarkets and plates for vegans aswell.
– Festivals & Parties, Portuguese people love festivals, parties and the night life, so we have alot of festivals you can choose from, like Rock in Rio, NOS Alive, Sumol Summer Fest, etc.. We are mad crazy for our Carnival Festival aswell, wich is something like Rio de Janeiro style of Carnival. The night life in Portugal is very active, there is to many option to choose from, and this happens in all parts of the country! (Lisboa, Porto and Algarve mostly!)
– There are so many cultural cities in Portugal that it will be hard for you to pick one! We have many castles, convents, national parks, that you can visit! Like Castelo de São Jorge & Convento de Mafra.
– Portugal is a country where people love to do sports, and there is so many options to choose from! From the most popular ones like Football, Rugby, Basketball, Surf & Bodyboard to other styles like skydiving or bungee jumping.
– Portugal is a country of contrasts and so it can appeal tourists with different preferences, budgets and expectations. People can choose among the mountains of the North, the vines of Douro, the golden plains of Alentejo, the green sceneries of the islands and National Parks, the sandy beaches of the coastline, the city landscapes of Lisbon, the sites of UNESCO or the historic environment of Porto. From urban towns to rural lands, the harder part will be to select.
– Tax Rules, Portugal is also one of the best countries for buying a house, because it has clear and transparent tax rules and offers facilities for obtaining residence permits, as part of new legal provisions that are more attractive to foreign investors. It also has a special regime for non-habitual residents, aimed at attracting foreign investors through very favourable income tax rates.
How to define my criteria?
Before you start searching for a property, you should create your own criteria based on this fields:
Apartment / Building / House / etc
Budget
Locations that you would like (Ex: Príncipe Real, Graça, etc)
New / To Refurbish / In Construction / etc
Sqm (More or Less)
Other Things (Ex: Big Windows, Garden, Balcony, River View, etc)
Once this is done, you might as well consider searching in different websites for similar properties of what you are looking for, to help our agents in their search.
How can i schedule visits to properties?
For you to schedule a visit to any property it is as simple as contacting one of our agents and let him know you would like to visit that property between x and x date and he will let you know asap which of that days is possible to make some visits!
Who should I talk to?
Big & Small Building Investments – Barbara Faro
Project Management - Barbara Faro
Apartments & Golden Visas – Gonçalo Chaves
Questions about taxes, etc – Barbara Faro / Gonçalo Chaves
Questions about our website / presentations / partnerships – Gonçalo Chaves
Questions about a property – Gonçalo Chaves
Languages:
Barbara – English, French, Portuguese, Spanish
Gonçalo – English, Portuguese, Spanish
How can I reserve a property?
Making a reservation or offer couldn’t be easier, all you need to do is contact one of our agents and tell them you are interested in the property, you would maybe like to schedule some visits and when you are ready to buy, tell them your offer and they will get in touch with the seller to start the negotiations.
Golden Visas & Taxes
Acquiring a Portugal Residence Permit for Investment Activity (Golden Visa):
Portuguese law offers foreign investors who have entered the country regularly (holders of valid Schengen Visas, or beneficiaries of Visa exemption), the possibility of applying for a residence permit for acquiring real estate.
Who can apply?
The legislation was revised and the investor may choose between one of the following investment activities for obtaining a residence permit (“Golden Visa”):
1. Acquisition of real estate in the amount of € 500.000,00 (five hundred thousand euros) or more;
2. Acquisition of real estate, whose construction was completed at at least 30 years ago or located in urban rehabilitition areas needing works to the real estate acquired with global amount starting at € 350.000,00 (three hundred and fifty thounsand euros);
The Golden Visa Programme will provide investors with the following advantages:
– No need to obtain a visa to enter Portugal
– No need to obtain a visa to travel in Europe (Schengen area)
– Living and working in Portugal, even with residency in a different country
– Residency extended to family members
– Extremely low minimum stay periods
– Low taxes
– Permanent Residency after 5 years
– Citizenship after 6 years
If you have any questions or would like to have more information regarding taxes or Golden Visa Application please contact one of our agents.
Non Permanent Residency Permit
The Investment Tax Code, created by Decree-Law n. 249/2009, approved on September 23rd, implemented a Personal Income tax system for the non-regular resident, with the purpose of attracting to Portugal non resident professionals qualified for activities with high added value intellectual or industrial propriety or knowhow, as well as beneficiaries of pension schemes granted abroad.
Competitive advantages:
For a period of 10 years, taxation related to IRS (personal income tax) on labour income in Portugal is at a fixed rate of 20%
No double taxation for pensions or for employment and self-employment income obtained abroad
How can you acquire Non-Habitual Resident Status?
Having not been a resident in Portugal for the last 5 years;
Register at the local tax office as a tax resident in Portugal (to do so you must have remained in Portugal for more than 183 consecutive or non-consecutive days, or having remained for less time, having, at 31st December of that year, a home in such conditions that would lead to the assumption that it is intended to be kept and occupied as your habitual residence);
Request that the status of Non-Habitual Resident be attributed at the time of registering as a tax resident in Portugal, or by 31st March of the year following that in which you become a resident in Portugal.
Once Non-Habitual Resident Status has been obtained, what is the taxation rate and incidence applicable to domestic source income?
In the case of employment or self-employment, the applicable taxation rate is 20% (with an additional 3.5% surcharge in 2015).
Taxation applies to income derived from high added value activities of a scientific, artistic or technical nature:
Architects, engineers and similar
Fine artists, actors and musicians
Auditors
Doctors and dentists, teachers and psychologists
Liberal professions, technicians and similar
Senior managers
Investors, directors and managers, when part of companies covered by the contractual regime provided for in the Investment Tax Code.
Registration as a Non-Habitual Resident confers the right to be taxed as such for a period of 10 years as from the year of registering as a tax resident in Portuguese territory.
Once Non-Habitual Resident Status has been obtained, in which cases is foreign income obtained by Non-Habitual Residents in Portugal exempt from taxation?
In the case of pensioners and retired people when:
Income is taxed in the source State, in accordance with the convention to eliminate double taxation, signed by Portugal and that State; or
Income is not considered to have been obtained through a Portuguese source, according to the criteria provided for in the IRS Code (personal income tax).
In the case of income derived from employment, when:
Income is taxed in the State of origin, in accordance with the convention to eliminate double taxation, signed by Portugal and that State; or
That income is taxed in another State with which Portugal has not signed any convention to eliminate double taxation, as long as the income is not considered to have been obtained in Portuguese territory, in accordance with the criteria in article 18 of the IRS Code (personal income tax);
In the case of income from self-employment (through the provision of services of a high added value, of a scientific, artistic or technical nature, or through intellectual or industrial property, investment income, rental income, capital gains income or other increases in equity), when:
The income may be taxed in the source country, territory or region, in accordance with theconvention to eliminate double taxation, or;
When no convention to eliminate double taxation has been signed, the OECD model convention may be applied (taking into consideration the observations and reservations made by Portugal) and as long as the source country, territory or region does not have a privileged tax regime, and as long as the income is not considered to have been obtained in Portuguese territory, in accordance with the criteria in article 18 of the IRS (personal income tax).
It is my first time in Lisbon
You are coming to Portugal (Lisbon) for the first time and you don’t know the city or where to stay.. Don’t worry, we got yout! If you didn’t already schedule with our team some visits to properties, please do, tell us the dates you are staying in Lisbon and we will get ready to meet you!
We will guide and present you the best areas in Lisbon as well as explain you what's going on in each area.
You don’t know where to stay and you would like some tips, thats totally fine aswell, contact the agent who you scheduled visits with (or any agent if you didn’t yet) and tell him you would like some tips on where to stay and based on the properties you will visit, our agents will provide you names of Hotels or apartments in Airbnb in the respective areas.
