“It could be the key to Portugal’s repopulation”: the new work visas for digital nomads
They are young, highly reliable, a contact above the media and who can solve the country’s problem.
“Have you ever thought about working by the sea in a tropical country with low living and taxes with a report and in the middle of Europe?” This is how some of the largest media in the world presented the arrival of new visas for digital nomads in Portugal. From the Washington Post to Bloomberg, everyone is unanimous: Portugal will become the new refuge for these remote workers.
At stake is the new legislation in Diário da República, which comes into force at the end of this month and which creates visas that allow so-called “digital nomads” to live and work in Portugal for a year. For this, digital nomads have to control at least 2,820, four times the current value of the national minimum wage, which is at 705 euros (and which should rise to 760 in 2023).
“Although it is a little late, it is very positive to finally have a legal structure. There’s a digital tool of ours coming from more nodes, which starts to stay until it stays in the country”, says Hall, creatormad Association.
This tool therefore requires these most extraordinary workers to earn an annual salary of at least $32,760, about half the average annual salary of a remote worker in the United States. And that, as well as the Non-Habitual Residents regime – which guarantee tax benefits -, has led Portugal to become “a favorite destination for Americans looking to move abroad”, according to Bloomberg.
The regime in question makes it possible to avoid digital nomads from IRS double taxation – abroad in the country of origin. “With this regime, dependent or self-employed workers for high value-added professions have their income taxed at 20%, as opposed to the 50% that can be applied to the Portuguese with a fee”, explains Jaime Esteves, a lawyer specializing in tax law. .
Portuguese workers can also affect the regime. As?
However, the law is not limited to Portuguese nationality, as citizens can also be part of this regime if they have not had tax residency in the country in the last five years. But it is not just the tax benefits that attract these temporary workers. For the creator of the Digital Nomad Association events, what moves digital nomads are communities “with a social structure in which it is easy for the digital nomad to be and have access”.
It is not enough to create a beautiful promotional video, it is necessary to build an infrastructure designed and dedicated to the habits of these people only, which does not pass through the workspaces, as well as activities focused and oriented towards them. This is what Gonçalo Hall tried to create together with the Regional Government of Madeira in the Digital Nomad Village project. “Nomads move a lot between communities and not so much between destinations. Co-work spaces are important, the issue of specific accommodation from month to month, which is medium-term accommodation, is also important. But above all it is proactive to create a community.”
The fact that Portugal is considered one of the safest countries in the world is a factor that counts for many who make the decision to come here. According to the Nomad List platform, some of the best destinations in the world add to this community, Portugal has three cities in the top 10 of the best to work with distinction, with two locations among the top three.
Lisbon is considered the best destination in the world for the digital nomad community, with excellent estimates in terms of safety, entertainment and internet speed, which compensates for the cost of living in the capital, which is considered high. The island of Madeira appears in third place, with a cost of living pointed out as being much more affordable. Closing the top ten cities for these workers is the city of Porto.
Portugal – the perfect storm
The reason? A perfect storm, in a good way – from the work of Turismo de Portugal to the events dedicated to the phenomenon, as well as characteristics of – “the people, the climate, the culture, the food, wine”. There is “the big pile” of the Web Summit, which exposes Portugal to a thousand entrepreneurs for every year, opening a revitalizing door to the interior regions – which have the length with the aging of the population.
“This audience could be the key to the repopulation of Portugal. It is possible to serve to revitalize other areas of the country, as long as we work towards it. It is not something that will happen organically”, highlights Gonçalo Hall, who points out that the regions of Luso, Douro, Algarve and the Azores are some of the regions with the greatest potential. “As long as the community is well structured and as conditions in our territory.”
But for this to happen, Portugal must not lose focus and continue to facilitate and finance the creation of structures and a little throughout the country, he says. And the key to this is a “centralized management” of the brand, creating an image of its own, in a more professional Portuguese way. “Right now at the top of the wave, but trends also change. Take the example of Thailand, which has been losing a lot of space in this market. We can lose everything if we don’t create a better and more competitive project. We are competing with countries like Dubai, which have millions invested in the same market.”