Fiscal representation for non residents NOT renting villas

[gabby27]

Hi to all you masters of knowledge,

Please can you help me and tell me whether it is FACT or MYTH that you do NOT need a fiscal representative if you are a non-resident, but are NOT submitting tax returns because of not renting your villa, and that you will only require a fiscal representative when you purchase or sell your house to pay the legit taxes of Capital Gains etc, and therefore in the meantime you may go and pay your taxes in person at the offices when due. My husband and I have got our own fiscal numbers issued when we purchased the property but we do not rent the villa, therefore not licensed to do so, so we do not have an accountant or anything but do have a bank account in carvoiero. We are fortunate enough to not have a mortgage either, so just use our account for spending money. we were going to rent but got too scared of the legislation so just keep it to ourselves!

As posted previously our lawyer wants to charge us 250 euro EACH to go and pay our IMI tax for us (which adds 80% to the cost of our annual tax!) and has paid on behalf of us for the last two years in April and October when we are in Portugal staying at our villa for the holidays anyway. I am now told that the next payment is in April and that there is nothing due in October which also does not make sense as we have paid a smaller sum in October of the last two years, and I understood payment was twice yearly.

Forgive me for ignorance but please can someone shed some light.

Many Thanks

[biffa]

Sorry to be the provider of bad news Gabby but all non residents, be they companies or individuals, who own property or even just have a bank account in Portugal must appoint a fiscal rep. That is the law. There are ways people in your situation "get round it" but it does often back fire with bad results.

There seems so much confusion on this topc maybe my firm will sort a special price deal for cvo.com subscrbers! Let me have a think about that!

[tricky]

I would be interested too Biffa

[e-richard]

..There seems so much confusion on this topc maybe my firm will sort a special price deal for cvo.com subscrbers! Let me have a think about that!

I'll have a piece of that action

Serious question though:

While I appreciate your definition of who needs to have a fiscal rep, am I right in assuming that a Fiscal rep does not have to be the person who actually pays the IMI ?
I appreciate the FR is responsible for ensuring that is is paid, but does he have to physically make the payment or can the client do that himself?

[themoneyman]

Wow 250 each, it shouldn't cost any more than 250 for both of you. Let me know if need some names I know many.

[biffa]

Anyone can PAY the IMI. It goes to the fiscal rep of course.

[completecarvoeiro]

Well slipped in there Biffa no one see that coming...........

[lagermeister]

I would advise everyone to have a fiscal rep.

Friends didnt have one, sold a property, went back to UK then bought another here. The Financas kept sending them registered post to their address for the demand for Capital Gains. They werent here to pick up the notification cards from the post office so in the end the Financas slapped a €150,000 charge against the second property which they were in the process of selling. The charge went on one week before they completed! How unlucky is that?

If they had a Fiscal Rep all the Financas docs would have gone to the Rep and the owners would have been notified of the intentions of the Financas, so they could have sorted out the CGT matter.

[tjthedj]

Biffa,

Let us know if you decide to introduce a CVO deal, cheers TJ

[maccasa]

A friend's lawyer offered to their FR for only €400 each!! I was quoted €300 each by Sovereign in Lagoa - eventually my lawyer decided she would do it for us for €150 total!

As the only thing they actually do is receive the letters and then pass on the money that you pay, this is much more reasonable! However they are responsible for your debts at the end of the day!

[biffa]

Hi Maccasa

As MD of Sovereign I wonder if you could let me know who quoted that fee to you as €300 does not appear anywhere on our fee list!

Sovereign standard fee for fiscal rep for one person with property is €220 per year and for a couple would be €250.