The change to tax and residence rules for foreigners has not diminished British people's interest in moving to Portugal, said the director of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom, Christina Hippisley.
We think there has been little or no change. The majority of Brits still consider moving to Portugal mainly for the country's quality of life, good value for money and the outdoor lifestyle, and not for tax reasons,” she told Lusa news agency.
The Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom held the 16th edition of the “Moving to Portugal” event in March 2024, a conference in London that attracts hundreds of visitors annually. The popularity led to two new additional meetings being held in 2024 in addition to the usual meeting in October, one in the British capital for the first time in March and another in Dublin on 18th April.
“People in the UK recognise the importance of moving “the right way”, that is, obtaining visas and opening businesses the right way, so they see participating in our fair as a key starting point on the path to change” , explained Christina Hippisley.
Last year, the Portuguese Government limited access to the special rate for new non-habitual residents and the investment residence regime, the so-called golden visa, which attracted many Britons due to the end of freedom of movement in the European Union resulting from Brexit. A data analysis carried out on visitors in 2023 concluded that the main reasons for participating in the fair were to find out about;
- residence and visas (54.5%);
- tax planning (46.6%);
- buying a house (42.2%);
- and investment opportunities (37.8%).
Almost 80% of respondents were newcomers and 37% planned to move to Portugal in less than a year. In recent years, Hippisley has noticed the participation of a growing number of remote workers, often referred to as "digital nomads", alongside continued interest from older couples and retirees.
This new audience, she added, is made up of people “younger and family-focused, but with larger budgets for spending on properties and lifestyle”. Another novelty is that the entire country has become attractive for the British to live in , including the Azores and Madeira, instead of just the Algarve or Lisbon, so the Chamber of Commerce decided to give visibility to different regions.
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