Working Remotely in Portugal 2022 - What You Should Know

So you have decided to go to Portugal and enjoy a few months living in your mid-term rental. Great choice! Portugal is lively and full of opportunities, even for the most demanding digital nomads. But there are a few things you should consider at the beginning before you fully commit to Portugal as your next home.

If you plan on staying in Portugal for no longer than 183 days (or three months), you will enjoy a grey area when it comes to taxes. In those three months, Portugal does not consider you a tax resident, which means an individual who pays taxes regardless of your residency status, and does not ask you to pay taxes. However, after this grace period ends, you automatically become a tax resident and need to file your taxes like everybody else. If you do decide to stay for longer, though, there are new possibilities for you in Portugal.

First, you can get either the D7 visa or a Residency Permit, both of which are primarily for non-EU citizens, which will help you stay in the country for longer. And after five years, you can even become a citizen – plus, Portugal has dual citizenship agreements with many countries, so you might not even need to give up your current citizenship. Additionally, if you are eligible for the NHR tax regime, you could enjoy a flat tax rate of 20%, which, depending on your earnings, could significantly lower your taxes. This can be an excellent choice for high earners looking for a place to retire.

Another essential thing to think through is the location of your stay. Most digital nomads choose Lisbon, the capital, as the best place to start. It has an amazing international community, many business and start-up opportunities, and tons of remote work events. However, it is a large city, noisy, and can be a bit more expensive than the rest of the country, especially when it comes to rent and some services. This is why towns like Porto, the Algarve, or even smaller towns, that we wrote about here can be an excellent choice for remote workers. If you already have a job outside of Portugal, there’s no need to be tethered to only the biggest cities in every country.

Finding the right place for you can be difficult. Most people default to AirBnB, but this can be costly when you rent for longer than a few days. Others try and score a home from one of the local estate agents, but there can be a nasty language barrier, and if you can’t visit the country, you might have to go in blind. But then there are services like Flatio, which make it easy and convenient to rent an apartment for a few months or a whole year from anywhere in the world. There are tons of pictures of the countless flats you can rent, so make sure to check it out.

Lastly, you might be wondering if all of this doesn’t add up to a massive bill at the end of the month, but you’d be surprised how affordable Portugal is. Take rent, for example. A small one-bedroom apartment in the centre of a city or a town ranges between €300 and €700 per month, which is a steal compared to other western countries. And considering all the beautiful beaches, work opportunities, friends, and more than the country has to offer, the cost of living in Portugal is downright cheap.