There are roughly 60,000 Brits living in Portugal and of those, most pensioners are found in the coastal Algarve region. The popularity of the resort and the presence of a thriving expat community mean that English is spoken almost everywhere, making Portugal something close to a home from home, but with more sunshine.

However, unlike healthcare provision, the UK Government does not have any reciprocal arrangements to cover overseas residential care for Brits living abroad. A study by LaingBuisson found that the average cost of residential care in the UK is around £2,400 per month, with more specialist nursing care around £3,100. Costs in Portugal range from £2,200 to £4,400 per month.

As a resident foreigner, you may receive letters from the Tax Office (“AT”). Just as happens with many Portuguese citizens, you will be baffled by the encrypted content, written in unadulterated “bureaucratese”. The letter may come with a “number” that might seem to be a tax demand. It may also contain a “deadline”, defining when you are supposed to react.
The first order of business is: “Don’t panic.” Scan the letter and send it to your tax accountants. They will know how to interpret the content. If there is a problem, they can assist you. While taxes will not go away on their own, with proper assistance, you need only to pay what is legally due.

Greed is one of the seven deadly sins for a reason. Money controls a great deal how we live our lives. Living paycheck to paycheck leaves us feeling stressed, while financial abundance allows us to live more freely. The news is always full of stories and specials on money. How to save it, invest it, and make more of it. It should come to no surprise that financial independence is one of the most desired goals for most Americans.

Here’s the truth that nobody wants to hear -- Almost everybody can achieve financial independence. It doesn’t come easily though. It starts with one step that most don’t want to do. It starts with living below your means.

It was greatly anticipated and there was much speculation that the Portuguese Socialist Government would introduce an Inheritance Tax. Although this did not materialise, we still believe that this could be introduced in the future. What they did introduce was a Wealth Tax which we believe will be extended in coming years.

A new tax year in the UK has started and we thought that it would be prudent to outline some of the major changes introduced to the tax regime for this tax year which you should be aware of.

If you own property in Portugal, or are thinking about buying a home here, you could be affected by new tax rules for 2017.

This year has seen the introduction of a ‘wealth tax’ in the form of an additional tax on higher-value properties. The government has also revised how it determines whether residents should be penalised for using ‘tax havens’.

The Spring Budget caused controversy and an unexpected U-turn by the UK government, all due to the National Insurance Contributions (NIC) increase for the self-employed.

Under the Budget proposals, Class 4 NIC would have increased from 9% to 10% in April 2018, and from 10% to 11% in April 2019. The changes were intended to redress the imbalance between employees and the self-employed. However, the change was heavily criticised for breaking the Conservative Party's 2015 manifesto pledge not to increase NIC.

It was almost a single-issue week for the euro, that issue being the possibility that Geert Wilders' anti-everything nationalist party could do well in Wednesday's Dutch general election. Were he to do so it would, supposedly, pave the way for an even bigger anti-EU upset in next month's French presidential election. It didn't, and the status quo was preserved. The euro enjoyed a relief rally as soon as the exit polls were revealed.