President of the Portuguese Association of Accountants calls for return of Golden Visas

The President of Portugal’s accountants association, Paula Franco, has asked the new centre-right government to fully restore Portugal’s successful and controversial Golden Visa programme.

Franco, who is standing again to lead the association for the 2025-2028 term, also wants the government to slash taxes on companies and families — a move which would certainly not be accepted by the PS Socialist opposition, which would block the successful passage of Portugal’s State Budget 2025 if taxes were significantly reduced down to 15% on IRC as some economists suggest.
“The taxes are too high in Portugal and both companies and individual tax payers need a clear sign (that the government will reduce tax). “I am also in favour of a tax-free salary and a return of the Golden Visas,” she said in an interview with Jornal Económico last week.
Portugal’s Golden Visa programme has been severely curtailed to now only be available in return for an investment in government sanctioned funds aimed at supporting startups and commercial investment.
The category for residential real estate investment, now rescinded, proved so popular with retirees that it was blamed for adversely influencing Portugal’s real estate market, driving up property prices in some areas, such as Lisbon and the Algarve, where prices rose by as much as 15%. The inflated costs were elevated to such an extent that Portuguese citizens were priced out of the market, in part because of the enthusiastic uptake of the Golden Visa Scheme by foreign retirees and non-EU relocaters.
The Golden Visa can still be applied for under the terms of the following investments: An investment of €500,000 in an organisation that specialises in scientific research, An investment of €250,000 in the maintenance or production of the Portuguese national heritage, An investment in a business that creates at least ten jobs, An investment of €500,000 in securities funds, or an investment of €500,000 in an existing company, or the creation of a new company that creates or maintains five long-term permanent jobs for a minimum period of three years.