Question: I am buying a property in Portugal but am being told that I have to buy a company which owns the property rather than buying the property. The company is not based in Portugal. Can a foreign company own property in Portugal, is this common and should I do this. It seems strange to me.
Answer: Certainly it is possible to buy property in Portugal in the name of a company - whether it is a Portuguese Company, a UK company or an Off-shore company. In the past it was very common for people to buy property in Portugal in the name of a company as many people thought that there were advantages in tax terms if you did this. Having said that, Portugal have followed France and Spain in having special taxes for having a property in the name of a non-Portuguese company - meaning that for many people this no longer makes sense. It is a complicated equation to decide whether you personally should do this - your lawyer should take into consideration your age, your family circumstances, the value of the property, what you intend to do with the property, how long you intend to keep the property for, who you want to inherit the property from you, the consequences in Portugal and in the UK and various other factors before being able to advise you on this.
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