To many people purchasing property in Portugal, either as a holiday home or as a permanent residence, can seem fraught with difficulties. You are in a foreign country with a foreign language, foreign laws, taxes and customs, and will rely heavily on your legal advisor or the sales agent to guide you. In your mind you want to be sure that you have proper legal title to your new property, that you do not pay any unnecessary taxes and that your investment is secure, not only for you but especially for your successors.
There is a lot to think about when moving to Portugal. It’s hard enough moving to a different place in your home country, but relocating abroad often involves extra matters to be organised and is simpler to put some on the back burner for a time when life has settled down.
FACING UP to the complex licensing legislation affecting holiday rental properties which, to date shows no signs of being altered, one Algarve villa rental agency has launched a service to prepare licence applications for its clients.
The problems affecting the licensing of properties for rent deepened this week.
A villa owner in Quinta do Lago made public some documents that show it is impossible to obtain the necessary licence to rent a private villa to holidaymakers.
Thousands of British people, who have moved or retired abroad, could be chased for tax going back six years following a recent court ruling. The landmark decision changed the way the Inland Revenue & Customs calculates whether you are deemed to be resident in Britain and therefore whether you must pay UK tax on your worldwide income and gains.
C.G.T. = Capital Gains Tax = Mais-Valía An issue people in the past never worried about when selling a property was tax, but now it is!! Everyone will agree this is a valid concern. What most people do not know is that it is at the point of purchase that one should be concerned about capital gains. Why? Because the purchase structure will play a significant role in the final bill and thus have an important influence if an investment in Portugal, being profitable or not in the end.
Development control in Portugal and how it works.
It must be the ambition of every country to manage their territory so as to guarantee to future generations that land and buildings will be properly laid out; that everything will be planned to take into account factors such as national and cultural resources, environmental issues and the division of land on a fair basis between public and private interests.
