Are offshore trusts back on the agenda? A recent move by the Portuguese government surprised the expat community by declaring the immediate removal of 15 tax jurisdictions from their offshore black list. The fundamental reason for such a move was the signing of bilateral Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA).
This bulletin provides information on the types of medical insurance available in Portugal and outside for Portuguese residents. The immigration authorities require foreigners wishing to take out a resident’s permit to have health insurance protection. For EU citizens the National Health Service protection from their country of origin is normally adequate. For non-EU citizens, however, private medical insurance is mandatory. Even for EU citizens additional protection may be considered desirable and many such as residents take out private health insurance policies. This Bulletin discusses some of the factors to consider when choosing a policy. In all cases, afpop recommends that members take professional advice before making a final decision.
Diário da República, 1st Series— Nº 178 — September 14, 2009
ECONOMY AND INNOVATION MINISTRY Decree-Law nº 228/2009 of September 14
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ANNEX Republication of Decree-Law nº 39/2008 of March 7
Recent speculation and articles in the local (Algarve) press that Delaware may have been blacklisted by the EU caused a great deal of concern amongst Algarve property owners whose properties are held in Delaware companies. Now that the list has been published, with no mention of Delaware, the Algarve Resident requested clarification of the current situation from both EuroFinesco and The Sovereign Group.
Only a few decades ago, bearer shares were the normal way to establish ownership rights in a company. When you incorporated a company, you received share certificates with no one’s name recorded on it. Whoever possessed the certificate controlled ownership.
Much has been said and written about the question if it wise and advisable to bring an off-shore company on-shore. The leading companies in the Algarve dealing with this have/had different opinions on this matter.
Offshore Property Companies - storm clouds on the horizon For many years, Offshore Property Companies have been a popular solution, although sometimes practices could be a bit “grey” in nature. Due to repeated problems with tax evasion, Portuguese legislation eventually changed, penalising these structures, writes Dennis Swing Greene.
CAR DOCUMENTS
Cars that were registered or changed ownership before November 2005 will have to documents, Titulo de Registo de Propriedade (blue) and Livrete (green). After November 2005 a new document “Documento Único” was introduced to substitute these too which will be done gradually as the cars are re-registered. The Police may ask for these to be shown at any time. They are also required for taxing your car annually, for the roadworthiness tests, and when you come to sell.
Change in US registered companies
Following the recent changes in the Laws of Portugal we have been discussing the question of domicile of US companies with various professionals in Portugal and there is an opinion that Portugal could deem a company to be resident where its “effective centre of management” is located and thus blacklist companies where the directors are resident in a black-listed jurisdiction. If your company has corporate Directors in for example, Gibraltar, the British Virgin Islands these jurisdictions are still considered as “blacklisted” in Portugal.
