How to correctly rent to fulfil NHR requirements

Olá Giada, bem vinda a este forum

Individuals who by the end of 2021 meet the conditions to benefit from the Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) tax regime have until 31 March 2022 to apply for NHR status with the Portuguese Tax Authority (AT).

To do so they must become tax resident in Portugal (*) by the end of 2021.

The IRS tax statement is made between 1 April and 30 June of each year.


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(*) The individual who wishes to obtain the NHR status must meet the following requirements:

(a) Not be fiscal resident in Portugal in the five previous years;

(b) Become “resident” for fiscal effects in Portugal:
(i) staying in Portuguese territory for more than 183 days, consecutively or cumulatively, during a period of 12 months;
(ii) having stayed for less time but having, on December 31 of the same year, a residence in Portugal in conditions that suggest an intention to maintain and occupy it as habitual residence;
(iii) having a house, demonstrating the intention to establish in Portugal the usual and permanent residence;

(c) Request the non-habitual resident's status upon AT registration or by March 31 of the following year.

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=911492
(Post #1)

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If you already have NIF and password, you can ask your question on the AT website:

https://www.acesso.gov.pt/v2/loginForm? … /dashboard

Best Regards

Olá Jhonny,

Thank you very much for your prompt reply.

I have 2 important follow up question please:

We are in Portugal at the moment and thought about something:

1. If we get a NIF now and sign a 12 month contract, we will apply for NHR by March 2022 and will lose 1 out of the 10 years of tax benefit (as the tax declaration for 2021 will not be done for Portugal for 2021 but for Italy, the country we resided in for most of this year); is this assumption correct please?

2. If we don't do anything and wait to do everything in January 2022 (meaning, getting a NIF, getting the "estatuto de residente"* ) we will only need to apply for NHR by March 31st 2023, is this correct?
Although we could still do the online pre-application in 2022 after we get a NIF and get the estatuto de residente - (I mean the NHR online pre-request which usually sends back an email confirmation within 48 hours?) - could we ?

*(quoting the words of the Portuguese accountant I've been speaking to:
"estatuto de residente e' assegurado numa repartição das finanças. Sugiro que quando for obter o NIF e indicar o sua nova morada fiscal fale nessa situação do estauto de residente e na intenção de fazer o pedido de adesão ao regime dos RNH")

She also said I need to make sure we have moved our tax residency, let me quote what I'm referring to from our mail exchange:
"Eu: Para recapitular com a senhora por favor, as nossas prioridades serão:
- NIF
- CRUE
- Fechar um contrato de arrendamento a longo prazo antes do final de 2021. Após isso, posso me inscrever no esquema NHR online? Li que em 48 horas saberei se minha inscrição será aceita."
"Contabilista: Correto, deve também assegurar-se que mudou a residência fiscal para Portugal e de que lhe foi atribuído o estatuto de residente. Sugiro que confirme na repartição das finanças de que mudou a residência fiscal e que tem o estatuto de residente (condições essenciais para aderir ao RNH)."

When she says to ensure we changed the tax residency to Portugal, do you understand what she is referring to please? (probably something we cannot do for 2021 as for this year we spent almost the whole year in Italy)

Thank you very much indeed for your time and attention!
Giada

Olá Giada,

1. If we get a NIF now and sign a 12 month contract, we will apply for NHR by March 2022 and will lose 1 out of the 10 years of tax benefit (as the tax declaration for 2021 will not be done for Portugal for 2021 but for Italy, the country we resided in for most of this year); is this assumption correct please?

The tax statement to be filed between April 1 and June 30, 2022, relates to the tax year 2021. By becoming a tax resident in Portugal still in 2021, your tax statement relates to the entire year 2021. If you become an NHR by March 2022, your 2021 income will have these tax benefits. In that tax statement you must consider all income earned in Italy, like pensions (being those pensions taxed in Portugal with 10% IRS tax, because you became already an NHR).

After 10 years, in 2031 (even if you no longer live in Portugal, but in Italy) you must file your tax statement in Portugal for the fiscal year 2030, still enjoying the tax benefits as an NHR.



2. If we don't do anything and wait to do everything in January 2022 (meaning, getting a NIF, getting the "estatuto de residente"* ) we will only need to apply for NHR by March 31st 2023, is this correct?

The application for NHR status, must be made until March 31st, inclusive, of the year following that in which you become a resident in Portuguese territory.
In other words, if you want to enjoy this NHR status in 2022, you must deal until the end of 2021 with:
a) NIF
b) Have a long term rental contract (1 year or more)
c) Get the CRUE

CRUE:
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 33#5088039
(Post #7)

d) Go to a AT tax office/citizen store, to change your fiscal residence to your new address in Portugal

e) Have everything taken care of until March 2022, to apply for this NHR status online or at a AT tax office/citizen store. You should always make all these procedures a few weeks before the deadlines.



Although we could still do the online pre-application in 2022 after we get a NIF and get the estatuto de residente - (I mean the NHR online pre-request which usually sends back an email confirmation within 48 hours?) - could we ?

If you have made the request for NHR registration through the Finance Portal, you can check the status of your request, 48 hours after submission, through the option:
Serviços Tributários  >  Cidadãos  >  Consultar  >  Pedido  >  Inscrição  Residente  Não Habitual


...

When she says to ensure we changed the tax residency to Portugal, do you understand what she is referring to please? (probably something we cannot do for 2021 as for this year we spent almost the whole year in Italy)

The change of tax residence to Portugal in 2021 is determinant to subsequently apply for this NHR status until March 2022. That' s why she mentions that you should confirm this change with the AT Finanças.


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Further Informations:

Non-habitual resident - AT Finance application (official document): (mar 2021)

https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/p … nancas.pdf

You can change this document to english (by clicking on "change to english")

Tax statement as an NHR (how to do): (jul 2021)

https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/p … RNH_PT.pdf

You can translate free the PDF into English/other language by using a Doctranslator, such as:
https://www.onlinedoctranslator.com


Cheers 

Hi all, I am just reading this thread and I have a small question, which is related - if you don't mind:

I am relocating with my family to Portugal in 2 weeks, we would like to buy an accommodation in the coming 6 months, so we would like to avoid the long term rental (1 year lease). From my understanding we can apply for the NIF straight away so we can send invoices as Freelancers (resident in Portugal), and then only when we have bought an accommodation later this year we can then apply for the NHR which will cover the whole year (starting when we declared ourselves as resident), as we will indeed have spent more than 6 months in Portugal in 2022.

Maybe you can confirm that it's indeed a viable plan and that we can apply for the NIF without a long term contrat? Our son will also start school over there, so just setting down, not trying to hack the system

Thanks in advance for your help,

Nico

Hi Nico,

The Fiscal Identification Number (NIF) is mandatory for acts related to the purchase of goods or services, contracts, opening bank accounts, sign rental contracts, among others. 

In other words, obtaining a NIF is the first procedure to have when you want to live in Portugal. You can request the NIF without being living in Portugal or without having a fixed residence. See here for more details:

https://eportugal.gov.pt/servicos/pedir … a-singular

Best Regards

nicolaslair wrote:

Hi all, I am just reading this thread and I have a small question, which is related - if you don't mind:

I am relocating with my family to Portugal in 2 weeks, we would like to buy an accommodation in the coming 6 months, so we would like to avoid the long term rental (1 year lease). From my understanding we can apply for the NIF straight away so we can send invoices as Freelancers (resident in Portugal), and then only when we have bought an accommodation later this year we can then apply for the NHR which will cover the whole year (starting when we declared ourselves as resident), as we will indeed have spent more than 6 months in Portugal in 2022.

Maybe you can confirm that it's indeed a viable plan and that we can apply for the NIF without a long term contrat? Our son will also start school over there, so just setting down, not trying to hack the system

Thanks in advance for your help,

Nico

I suggest you apply for the fiscal number with a foreign address. Only change the address once you become settled. Only then register as a freelancer - you don't really want to have Portuguese tax (mainly compliance) obligations before you become resident - you might be simulataneouly caught in your current system - don't complicate your life.  Once you change the address to a Portuguese address, then apply for the nhr status. Best to get the sequence right - avoids issues