Offshores

Insights into what is involved in buying, selling & living in Portugal

What to with an offshore in 2020?

What to do with an off-shore company anno 2020 Many of us, including myself, decided in the late nineties – early 20th. century to put their property in an offshore structure and maybe even put it in Trust. Basically, there are 3 ways you could have acquired the shares of an offshore company: Read more →

Bringing it on shore

Moving from Malta to Portugal We are now (2019) faced with a situation whereby many property owners wished that they never had involved themselves in buying a property through an off-shore company. Many years ago many jurisdictions were blacklisted and the majority had the choice either to move to Delaware or Malta. Read more →

Register of Beneficial Owners

The Central Register of the Effective Beneficiary (RCBE) consists of a database with accurate and up-to-date information about the persons who, indirectly or through a third party, have ownership or effective control of established entities in Portugal. Subject to the RCBE are: (a) associations, cooperatives, foundations, civil and commercial companies, which conduct activities or practice a legal act or business in Portugal, and require a fiscal identification number (NIF); (b) representation of international legal persons or of foreign law carrying out an activity in Portugal. Read more →

New legislation offshore property companies

The walls continue to close in on Offshore property holding companies in Portugal. Once a popular solution for home ownership, these structures are based in low-tax jurisdictions that allow shareholders to take advantage of certain “loopholes” to avoid paying Capital Gains tax when selling. Over the past 15 years, successive changes in legislation in Portugal have gradually tarnished the glow of these elusive structures. Read more →

dDscretionary trusts, 10 years on

EDITORIAL: NIKI PATEL nikisha.patel@scottishwidows.co.uk Having looked at the inheritance tax treatment when a discretionary trust is created and when capital appointments are made, moving another step on, I now focus on the tenth year anniversary charge known as the ‘periodic charge.’ DISCRETIONARY TRUSTS TEN YEARS ON… WHAT IS A PERIODIC CHARGE AND WHEN DOES ONE ARISE? Read more →

Owning Spanish Property in a company

International company structures established in decades gone by to help wealthy owners of property in Spain avoid tax are now a ticking time-bomb for some, as the Spanish tax authorities set their sights on them. “International company structures, with some owned by double or triple vehicles involving a Spanish company belonging to a foreign company and, in many cases, a Trust on top, were the arrangement of choice recommended by leading international tax advisory firms to wealthy investors from the 70s to the 2000s,” explains Fernando Del Canto. Read more →

15 countries from the Portuguese black list

Are offshore trusts back on the agenda? A recent move by the Portuguese government surprised the expat community by declaring the immediate removal of 15 tax jurisdictions from their offshore black list. The fundamental reason for such a move was the signing of bilateral Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA). Portugal has now signed TIEAs with the following countries: Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, States of Guernsey, Gibraltar, Cayman Islands, Isle of Man, Jersey, Liberia, Santa Lucia, St. Read more →

Bearer Shares

Only a few decades ago, bearer shares were the normal way to establish ownership rights in a company. When you incorporated a company, you received share certificates with no one’s name recorded on it. Whoever possessed the certificate controlled ownership. A company that issues bearer shares has no shareholder list or register for those shares. Read more →

Portuguese Nominee Company Yes or No

Much has been said and written about the question if it wise and advisable to bring an off-shore company on-shore. The leading companies in the Algarve dealing with this have/had different opinions on this matter. But I have the impression that some views are influenced by economic motives. Below you will find info as published by Eurofinesco and Sovereign in local press releases. Read more →