Are there any tax benefits of donating money to get a Portuguese Golden Visa?

Answers

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  Tiago Gali Macedo

  NEXT/Gali Macedo & Associados

  May 03, 2019

  The Golden Visa program provides several types of investment in Portugal, that allow the Investor to obtain a Golden Visa. One of the options is, in fact, the “capital transfer on the amount equal to or above 250,000 euros for investing in artistic output or supporting the arts, for restoring or maintenance of the national cultural heritage, through local and central administration services, public institutions, public corporate sector, public foundations, private foundations of public interest, network local authorities, local corporate sector organizations, local associations and public cultural associations, pursuing activities of artistic output, and restoring or maintenance of the national cultural heritage.” However, this type, like all the other capital transfer, is qualified as an investment and not as a donation. In this sense, there are no tax benefits when applying for a Golden Visa in Portugal, regardless of the type of investment. Independently of the type of investment, all applications are processed equally. There is no faster type of investment. In order to declare tax residency in Portugal, you must, in fact, reside in Portugal for more than 180 days; usually, Golden Visa applicants do not reside in Portugal and thus must have a tax representant in Portugal.

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  Kathia Vianna

  Cidadão Legal

  May 16, 2019

  In response to your question, we inform that the transfer of capital in the amount of 250,000 euros or more, applied to the artistic production, recovery or maintenance of the national cultural heritage, can make the request for a Golden Visa possible. The value of the investment can be reduced by 20% (200,000 euros) when it is carried out in low-density territory. Although the values are the most accessible, the requirements for authorization are no longer objective, because it depends on the issuance of a declaration issued by the Office of Strategy, Planning and Cultural Evaluation, after hearing the service of the area of culture with attributions on the sector. Until May 2018, there was no application for a Golden Visa under this modality, which could make the application more difficult. For such reasons, almost all the requests are based on objective requirements, such as the purchase of property of value equal or superior to 500,000 euros; the transfer of capital in an amount equal to or greater than 1 million euros; or the creation of 10 jobs. The estimate for the resident permit is three to six months after the application for the Golden Visa.

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  Sara Sousa Rebolo

  Prime Legal

  May 28, 2019

  For tax purposes, donations are understood as money deliveries without any setup obligations of a pecuniary or commercial character to the public or private entities referred in the law, whose activity consists predominantly of social, cultural or educational initiatives. The amounts donated can be used to obtain a deduction for the purposes of determining the taxable profit of the companies that do so (being considered cost or loss for the year in a 130/150 percentage). On the other hand, donations made by attributed by natural persons resident in national territory, under the terms of the law, may also be deductible to the collection of the IRS of the year to which they relate to in a 25 percentage. It is therefore relevant for the purpose of calculating the right to and value of a tax benefit as per a donation made by a Golden Visa investor, to determine the investor's tax residence in the relevant year and the compliance with the tax benefits law.