UNTIL RECENTLY, you could bank on banking secrecy. You knew that if you opened an offshore account in the Channel Islands or Isle of Man, no one could find out about it unless you authorised it. Financial confidentiality was alive and well. Over just a few short years the situation has, however, changed dramatically.
THE UK Revenue and Customs announced an unprecedented amnesty for hundreds of thousands of British tax residents with assets offshore, including holiday homes, property companies and bank accounts, in an attempt to recover billions of pounds in unpaid tax.
THE UK Revenue and Customs announced an unprecedented amnesty for hundreds of thousands of British tax residents with assets offshore, including holiday homes, property companies and bank accounts, in an attempt to recover billions of pounds in unpaid tax.
Government inspections launched a mega operation last week targeting holiday villas and rental accommodation across the Algarve. A total of 147 fines were issued for various infractions, but primarily to property owners not holding the requisite rental licence.
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.
