Residencia v non-Resedencia

[shanagarry]

During a recent exchange of opinions on the subject of car importation to Portugal - a comment was made regarding the pro's and con's of Resedencia. To that end can somebody help me understand the following please?

If as a UK resident and passport holder I come to live in Portugal - do I have to take on/out Resedencia status? What does it mean if I do not?

If as a UK resident and passport holder I come to live in Portugal and I take on Resedencia status - will I benefit in any way?

In both cases I will continue to work throughout Europe for an Irish registered company while living in Portugal. My income will not come from any one place.

Opinions and real life examples will be gratefully appreciated

[kteee]

I think, by law, you have to take out residência if you are resident in Portugal for more than 183 days per year - although, like everything else, the rules seem to change fairly regularly!

It makes lots of things easier if you have residência, and if this is your main home I don't see why you wouldn't

Initially you get 5 years, on renewal you should get 10 years

[steve]

As Ktee says you are legally required to apply for residencia if you are resident in Portugal for more than 183 days a year. You then become liable to render tax returns to the IRS here in respect of your world wide income. If you are resident in Portugal you would not be tax resident in the UK but if you had income arising in the UK which had to be taxed at source you will get relief under the Double Taxation Treaty between the UK and Portugal.

Some people live permanently in Portugal but work for UK companies. If you are a director of the company there can be advantage in taking a small salary ie below the threshold for PAYE and NI and receiving income through dividends. Obviously you are getting into the sort of territory here where you would be well advised to take professional tax advice. You would need also to look into the question of liability to Portuguese NI contributions.

I think that you would need to produce a residencia to register with the Social Security Department and get access to state healthcare and a Portuguese card to give cover equivalent to the old UK E111, although I am aware of people who in the past have obtained a Cartao do Utente without going through this hoop.

A small additional point is that you need a residencia to legally drive a Portuguese registered vehicle other than a hire car, although I understand that there is an exception made for a personally owned vehicle.

This is obviously a complicated area and I do not pretend to offer a professional opinion.

[algarvedls]

Have been permanent resident for 18 years and never had a residencia .... have bought 3 houses, registered with social services/health centre, have a fiscal number, own a car, had a permanent job, kids received child benefit, never had a problem at all...

[shanagarry]

The reply from Algarvedis seems to contradict the apparent knowledgeable answer from Steve?

[Gambrinus]

Residency status is not what the portuguese are fussed about enforcing - as long as you have a fiscal number and do your tax declarations if you have income they are happy.
Beyond that it is virtually impossible to proove that somebody has spent over 180 days per year in the country and even if they did, would the fines justify the cost of shadowing somebody for half a year? Probably not.

One good reason to take it out is if you really do want to help enhance your local area on a small scale: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=14789

[steve]

I don't think that there is necessarily any conflict here. What happened in the past was often fairly informal and for fiscal matters what Gambrinus says may well be true but I certainly would not have been able to matriculate my car without a residencia and I feel sure that this was also a requirement from the Social Security Dept. I have also had to produce it to get reimbursement of certain specialist medical supplies.

The informal approach is fine until you run into a jobsworth.