Last Tuesday, the 14th, during the special debate on the State Budget for 2024 regarding the non-habitual resident regime, the government proposed the following transitional regime for the amendment to the Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) regime:

In addition to maintaining the regime for taxable persons who were already registered under the NHR regime, which was already provided for in the 2024 State Budget, the transitional regime will also apply to:

i) Taxpayers who, on 31/12/2023, can be considered residents for tax purposes in Portuguese territory (as well as their household);

ii) And taxable persons who become Portuguese tax residents by December 31st, 2024, and who declare, for the purposes of their registration as NHR, one of the following:

   a) Promise or contract of employment, promise or secondment agreement signed by December 31st, 2023, for the exercise of functions in Portugal; or

   b) Lease agreement or agreement granting possession of property in Portugal, executed by October 10th, 2023; or

   c) Reservation contract or promissory contract for the acquisition of a right in rem over real estate in Portugal, signed by October 10th, 2023; or

   d) Enrollment or registration for dependents in an educational establishment in Portugal, completed by October 10th, 2023; or

   e) Residence visa or residence permit valid until December 31st, 2023; or

   f) Procedure for granting a visa or residence permit, in accordance with the applicable immigration legislation, initiated until 31/12/2023, through:

• requesting an appointment or making an appointment to submit the application;
• submitting the application.

In the cases provided for in this proposed amendment, the taxable person should apply for registration with the NHR after registering as a resident in Portuguese territory by 31/03/2024.

If the registration is made after the deadline, the tax regime comes into force from the year the registration is made (in essence, the person would lose one out of the ten years of reduced taxation.

In summary, all GV investors who submit their applications by the end of 2023 will have another year to become NHR in Portugal and benefit from the reduced taxation without any further requirements.