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Not sure if this is pertinent but I was (reliably?) informed by a Portuguese tax accountant that NHR has, as yet, not been monitored by authorities as to whether you continue to meet the requirements annually.

Unless, perhaps, you are being transparent about breaking the terms, what does Portuguese authorities have to gain in monitoring in any case?

Other nations may gain, but not Portugal, so why go to the effort?

Additionally, if you fail to meet the terms in any particular year - of the 10 consecutive NHR years awarded - you still retain NHR, it's just that you have "lost" the benefits of that year as the benefits cannot be rolled over.

With the general expectation that NHR policy days may now be numbered, again why would authorities now set up a control)management/oversight department, with its inherent costs for no financial benefit at all?

Just my considered thoughts and learnings on NHR.

@slugsurmamates

Everything you're saying here makes sense, and as you suggest, now that the NHR is coming to an end, there is indeed even less reason to assign more resources to this.

After posting this thread, I actually spoke to another tax lawyer.

Firstly, he confirmed that he had not heard of NHR status being taken away.

But, he also said that "paying yourself a higher salary" is a means of avoiding tax inquiries relating to "misclassification of income". The example he gave was paying oneself €1k /month salary with €4k in dividends for work that would go for €5k at market rate. So the authority would claim that the dividends are actually income and back-taxes need to be paid. This is obviously extremely subjective, but I think that most tax law is.

This seems particularly obvious in cases where someone does contracting service work through their company, but I am not sure how someone like an "uninvolved" company owner fits into this (eg one that works a few hours a month).

Perhaps someone will correct me, but maybe dividends are supposed to represent value created from past work, and salary is value created now.

now that the NHR is coming to an end   

    -@Tim_Y

Nothing is known for certain. As there will be elections in March 2024, if there is a right-wing government, it is likely that the NHR will be maintained. The current budget for 2024 can be approved on 29 November 2023, but when the new government officially takes up its mandate in March/April, it could change all the policies that this current government was following, including NHR ...

@JohnnyPT

Hi Johnny.

Well, I guess a "right wing " government in Portugal may be something to behold bearing in mind the make up and numbers of left, hard left and extreme left candidates that form - and have formed - the administrations for decades.

Perhaps, the media perception of what Right Wing might constitute of , with left wing members being categorised as right wing to enable an agenda of misrepresentation.

We need to look no further than UK to note a party in government which is described as Right Wing yet the vast majority of their MPs, and virtually all of their policies for years are liberal left of differing colours.

That said, I agree with you tha reports of the NHR demise may be greatly exaggerated.