Rich Spaniards flee to Portugal to escape wealth tax

Spanish law firms say they are being inundated with calls from HNWIs seeking to change their tax residence status to Portugal while the Non-Habitual Residence regime is still open.

Rich Spaniards are looking into moving to Portugal after the Constitutional Court in Spain approved a wealth tax on large fortunes according to the Spanish daily El Economista. The “flight” across the border has also been happening after the government backed down temporarily over scrapping the NHR (Non-Habitual Residents) regime, which the governing PS party has decided to postpone for another year.
The new wealth tax in Spain, which was given the green light on November 7, taxes wealth, including patrimony worth €3 million or over, with an exemption on the first €700,000.
Concerned about the current political situation, and the tax burden in Spain, which the rich think is disproportionate compared to other countries, one Spanish law firm Selier Abogados reported “very strong intentions among clients to change their effective residence and not just seek advise”.
“The majority of interested parties have set the first quarter of 2024 as the date limit to make a firm decision to move”, said a source within the law firm.
And while there are Spanish cases, foreigners, mostly from Latin America, represent the majority of requests for information at the law firm.
“People who have moved once have no hesitation in moving again, particularly to nearby countries such as Portugal, Italy and Switzerland”, said the law firm contact to the Spanish business daily.