Tax residence for investors

A residence permit and tax residence are different things. Some permits need no stay at all, yet a passport application may need years of tax returns as a resident. A US green card makes you tax resident from the start.

Day counts and home tests

Portugal treats you as tax resident after more than 183 days in any 12-month period, or if you have a home you appear to intend to keep as your habitual residence. The home test has no day count, so meeting the Golden Visa's 7-day and 14-day minimums does not settle the question.

When a passport needs tax residence

The Greek permit needs no stay. Greek citizenship, though, needs tax assessments showing liability as a Greek resident for the years of prior residence. In our view, plan Greek tax residence from the start of your residence count.

The US green card

• A green-card holder is a US resident for income tax, taxed on worldwide income at citizens' rates.
• A US resident must file an FBAR if foreign accounts exceed $10,000 in total at any time in the year.
• US estate tax applies to a resident's estate. A "resident" decedent is one domiciled in the US at death.
• A permanent resident in at least 8 of the last 15 tax years is a long-term resident. Giving up the green card after that can trigger the expatriation tax, which treats all property as sold the day before.

In our view, review trusts, holding companies, gifts and unrealised gains before your first day as a US permanent resident.

Leaving your home country

Canada deems an emigrant to dispose of most property on leaving. Check your own country's exit rules before you change residence.

Reporting follows you

EU member states exchange financial-account data automatically. Banks report US account holders under FATCA. The OECD keeps a list of residence and citizenship schemes it considers potentially high-risk for tax transparency.

Succession

In the EU, habitual residence at death decides which country's law governs succession, unless you choose the law of a country of nationality.

Special regimes

Some countries offer regimes for new residents, such as Italy's flat tax. They work alongside a residence route, not instead of one.

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Sources

1. 1Portugal, CIRS art. 16(1)
2. 2Greek Citizenship Code (Law 3284/2004), art. 6(1)(e)
3. 326 USC 7701(b)(1)(A)(i)
4. 4IRS, Taxation of resident aliens
5. 5IRS, FBAR
6. 626 USC 877(e)(2)
7. 726 USC 877A(a)(1)
8. 8Income Tax Act (Canada), s. 128.1(4)
9. 9Directive 2014/107/EU
10. 10IRS, FATCA
11. 11OECD, residence and citizenship by investment schemes
12. 12Regulation (EU) 650/2012, arts 21(1) and 22(1)