UK citizen working in France moving to Portugal

[mpl379]

My son graduated from university and moved to France in 2010 where he has set up as a translator under the Auto-Entrepreneur scheme. He has never worked in the UK. The majority of his work is via the internet so in theory it doesn't matter where he lives. He will be moving to Portugal in November to improve his language skills and is looking for advice - can he continue as an Auto-entrepreneur and pay his tax and social security monthly via the French scheme and keep his French bank account although he will not have a French address once he moves, or should he register as self-employed in Portugal, open a Portuguese bank account and close the French business. We have not been able to discover the best source of advice for his particular situation. I would appreciate any pointers for where to go for advice and/or an idea of costs involved to receive this advice.

[etf]

Hi mpl379,

I suspect you may struggle to receive a response to the specific French and Portuguese tax questions you have requested through this forum, although hopefully my comment will prompt specialists in those countries to reply and prove me wrong.

As a general rule of thumb, an individual living and working in a country will usually have to pay tax on any income generated there and therefore your son should definitely review his obligation to pay tax and social security in Portugal.

Conversely, a country will not usually seek to tax a non-resident on income generated outside that country after they have left for good (assumed to be the intention of your son), but as there are always exceptions to the rule, specific advice should be sought in France.

For individuals moving to a new country, I usually suggest reading the applicable PWC country guide (these are mainly aimed at employees) as these can provide useful pointers for arrivers and leavers. They can be accessed through the useful links section of the website below e.g for France, but having checked it does not look as though one is produced for Portugal.

When seeking tax advice your son should ensure that the relevant practioners are familiar in dealing with the tax affairs of expatriates.

Kind Regards

etf

http://theexpatriatetaxfactory.com