Portugal Fiscal Representation

It is advisable that anyone who has a property in Portugal should appoint a Fiscal Representative to serve as an interface between themselves and the tax department.

Global automatic exchange of information under the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS) went live in January 2016 and the first information exchange took place in 2017. Financial institutions in over 100 countries around the world now collect information on their clients and their accounts and pass that data onto the clients’ country of residence. It is now more important than ever to make sure you are correctly declaring your income and paying tax in the right country. It also means that Tax Departments in Portugal are better able to enforce the law that all non-EU residents who own property or hold a bank account in Portugal must appoint a Fiscal Representative, resident in Portugal.

If you never previously had a Fiscal Representative and have lived outside the EU, you may be incorrectly registered at the Tax Department as being resident in Portugal for tax purposes. As such you may be liable to declare your worldwide income in Portugal and pay taxes here! Any Tax Department correspondence could also be sent to the wrong address. If your IMI property tax bill is currently sent directly to your Portuguese property by the Tax Department, you are definitely registered as being tax resident in Portugal!

Sovereign will check your status and, if necessary, correct your registration.

A registration fee is payable for Sovereign to undertake substantial administrative work to obtain your fiscal number and register as your Fiscal Representative. You will not pay an annual fee in the year you register with Sovereign but, in subsequent years, we will charge an annual fee for ongoing fiscal representation.

Once Sovereign is registered as your Fiscal Representative, we will become the first contact for the Tax Department in respect of your affairs and, when we receive any correspondence, we will contact you for instructions. Sovereign will remain registered as your Fiscal Representative until such time as you cancel us directly at the Tax Department.

Sovereign’s fee gives you peace of mind that your tax affairs in Portugal are being correctly dealt with in a timely manner. You will be informed promptly about any matters arising from a property purchase or sale. Our fee covers the responsibility of acting as your Fiscal Representative in Portugal and includes the receipt and forwarding of your Municipal Tax bills. Many simple queries can be answered without charge, but additional fees will be charged for any extra work requested by you, either on a time-spent basis or as shown in our Fee Schedule.

Sovereign’s annual fee does not include the payment of taxes, submission of tax returns or, if requested, time spent on research or dealing with other entities. You will always be informed of any additional charges that are likely to be incurred before any work is undertaken on your behalf.

Sovereign will handle all tax matters including Tax Department audits on the purchase or sale of properties, the submission of tax returns, declaring rental income from Portuguese property or assisting lawyers with property transfer tax (IMT). We will also assist with the provision of documentation for property sales, Tax Department property registration documents, payment of municipal taxes, advice on rateable property values, debt certificates, as well as corporate and individual accountancy services.

Sovereign has been advising resident and non-resident clients on all matters relating to property ownership in Portugal since establishing an office here in 1999. With our full complement of qualified accountants and bi-lingual administrative staff, we can keep up to date with the ever-changing tax demands placed on property owners.

Our regular contact with local Tax Departments and our reputation for prompt, quality service has enabled us to establish good relationships with lawyers all over Portugal, who trust Sovereign to resolve fiscal matters for their clients.

We ensure that confidentiality is applied to all our work and that our fees remain competitive.