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Hi everyone, found this forum from the very helpful youtube channel.
Despite much searching around I have found some quite conflicting information on whether the D7 and NHR are suitable for me.
I am a seafarer working on a yacht. I get paid a salary 12 months a year from the British Virgin Islands. I'm British and currently live in the UK.
Regarding the D7, I have no passive income, and it sounds like my salary will not be taken into account. However I think I have enough savings to transfer into a Portuguese account to satisfy the requirements to support myself. Does anyone have any experience doing things this way, with zero or very low passive income?
The NHR I fear might be a bit more complicated. Would my earnings for the BVIs be completely exempt from tax in Portugal? This is something I have struggled to find info on, because most sites either talk about investments, pensions, or self employed income.
Finally, I have seen conflicting info on whether I need to stay in Portugal for 183 days a year or not. I work on a 2 month on / off basis, I have read somewhere that as long as you can prove your main residence is in Portugal they won't get hung up on the 183 days, I would only be leaving for work. However I will always be out of the country for a little over 6 months a year with work and travel days taken into account, plus short trips around the rest of Europe.
Any advice is much appreciated, also if anyone can recommend some good advisors in Portugal that would be great. I have no issue paying for some good advice, but so far my emails have gone unanswered.
Thanks,
Sam
Finally, I have seen conflicting info on whether I need to stay in Portugal for 183 days a year or not. I work on a 2 month on / off basis, I have read somewhere that as long as you can prove your main residence is in Portugal they won't get hung up on the 183 days, I would only be leaving for work. However I will always be out of the country for a little over 6 months a year with work and travel days taken into account, plus short trips around the rest of Europe.
Those periods of absence from Portugal would require you to seek prior authorisation from SEF to avoid your residency permit being cancelled, and you must be a resident of Portugal to have NHR (it's a tax break only available to residents of Portugal).
Cancelamento da autorização de residência
a) O seu titular tenha sido objeto de uma decisão de afastamento coercivo ou de uma decisão de expulsão judicial do território nacional; ou
b) A autorização de residência tenha sido concedida com base em declarações falsas ou enganosas, documentos falsos ou falsificados, ou através da utilização de meios fraudulentos; ou
c) Em relação ao seu titular existam razões sérias para crer que cometeu actos criminosos graves ou existam indícios reais de que tenciona cometer actos dessa natureza, designadamente no território da União Europeia; ou
d) Por razões de ordem ou segurança públicas.
2 - Sem prejuízo da aplicação de disposições especiais, a autorização de residência pode igualmente ser cancelada quando o interessado, sem razões atendíveis, se ausente do País:
a) Sendo titular de uma autorização de residência temporária, seis meses consecutivos ou oito meses interpolados, no período total de validade da autorização;
b) Sendo titular de uma autorização de residência permanente, 24 meses seguidos ou, num período de três anos, 30 meses interpolados.
3 - A ausência para além dos limites previstos no número anterior deve ser justificada mediante pedido apresentado no SEF antes da saída do residente do território nacional ou, em casos excepcionais, após a sua saída.
4 - Não é cancelada a autorização de residência aos cidadãos que estejam ausentes por períodos superiores aos previstos no n.º 2, quando comprovem que durante a sua ausência de território nacional desenvolveram atividade profissional ou empresarial ou de natureza cultural ou social.
5 - O cancelamento da autorização de residência deve ser notificado ao interessado e comunicado, por via electrónica, ao ACIDI, I. P., e ao Conselho Consultivo com indicação dos fundamentos da decisão e implica a apreensão do correspondente título.
6 - É competente para o cancelamento o Ministro da Administração Interna, com a faculdade de delegação no director-geral do SEF.
7 - A decisão de cancelamento é susceptível de impugnação judicial, com efeito meramente devolutivo, perante os tribunais administrativos.
@old-bloke Yes, it sounds like they might accept that, as long as it is genuinely my primary residence.
My main concern now is whether my income is tax free under NHR. If I could remain a UK tax resident and utilise the D7 that would be ideal (the move to PT is simply because that's where I want to live, not to avoid tax, I have a tax exemption in the UK anyway).
However I think as the D7 requires you to become a Portuguese resident, this also requires you to be a tax resident.
Anyone have any info on that?
Thanks guys
You might want to check the NHR scheme in depth, I could be wrong but I believe income earnt abroad isn't free of tax and is taxed at a flat rate of 20% (rather than the sliding scale tax rates).
Even if SEF allowed you to absent from PT for longer than usually permitted, you would most likely still be a tax resident of PT as, contrary to popular belief, tax residency is not based only on being in PT for 183 days. (183 days is just one of the tie-breaker questions when there is doubt as to where someone is tax resident, place of primary residence being another.)
What would be the reason for applying for a residence visa / permit?
You could visit 2 months at a time without breaching any limits.
@x-camone The problem comes when I want to return after work. Say I do January & February in Europe, then March & April at work, I can return for May but in June my 90 days would be up and I'd have to leave for a month until I returned to work. This is awkward and my last resort at the moment.
@surnames, any updates since your last post? At the moment, I’m looking for an answer for the very same question: is it possible to fulfill D7 requirements while working abroad at sea?
