Chinese investors are seeking new investment opportunities in Portugal under the Golden Visa programme

Chinese investors are seeking new investment opportunities in Portugal under the Golden Visa programme
The exponential awareness of Portugal’s Golden Visa programme has increased the number of investors, specifically Chinese investors, who are flocking to secure the best international investments in addition to safeguarding their family’s future.
Statistics from SEFSTAT reveal that an overall 480,300 worldwide nationals applied to Portugal’s Golden Visa programme between June 2017 – June 2018 with 25,377 of these main applicants coming from both Hong Kong and China. This recent survey confirms that when combined, nationals from Hong Kong and China are one of the leading national groups to apply under Portugal’s Golden Visa programme, running close behind Brasil and other South American countries.
With flexible and accessible investment opportunities, Portugal has become one of the most popular Golden Visa programme in the market. With a minimum investment of €280,000 in real estate, applicants and their family members can obtain a residency permit to Portugal that enables them to live, work and attend educational institutions. Benefits also include no extra tax on income both in Portugal and in the applicant’s home country, visa-free travel to the Schengen countries, no residential requirement and if the investment is in property, applicants have the option to rent it out. The highlight of applying under Portugal’s Golden Visa programme is that applicants and their dependants can obtain a permanent visa within 5 years and citizenship status within a year thereafter.
For more finite details and to explore the opportunities of investing in Portugal, please feel free to contact one of our representatives on 0207 799 1606 or alternatively, email info@coatesglobal.com

Portugal’s changes to rental income tax

With the new state budget proposed by the Portuguese Government for the year 2019[1], the taxes for all rents received through rental agreements for residential purposes have undergone some changes. Such changes could see the previous rate of the 28% of income tax being reduced to the following:

– Rental agreements with a minimum period of at least 2 years and up to 5 years may see a reduction to 26%. Please note that per every renewal of a rental agreement, the tax reduces by 2%. The income rate, however, can only be limited to 14% and can go no lower;

– Rental agreements with a minimum duration of 5 years and a maximum of 10 years may see a reduction to 23%. With such rental agreements, for every renewal the tax reduces by 5%, but will go no lower than a 14% rate;

– Rental agreements with a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of 20 years may see a reduction to 14%. In this case, it is not possible to reduce the tax any further;

– Rental agreements with 20 years+ may see a reduction below 14% to 10%. In such cases, there is no possibility to reduce the tax any further.

For all the above rental agreements, it is key that the landlord must effectively communicate when the agreement(s) have been signed and pay the respective stamp duty (10% of the monthly rent to be paid by the tenant) to the local tax office. From the moment that the registration of the rental agreement is concluded as mentioned, the tax rate of each invoice is to be issued by the landlord to the tenant with the automated tax reduction.

The primary reason that the Portuguese Government have taken such measures is to promote the residential renting market for Portuguese nationals and reduce the amount of properties for the short-term rental market.