Hi There,

I've been in Portugal a couple of times recently and I have agreed on a price for a property.

I am now planning to return again to get my fiscal card, open up a bank account and instruct a lawyer.

I have been reading up on this on the internet but I'm a little concerned about some conflicting and possibly outdated information and I was hoping that I could get some advice from people on this site who had recently been through the same experiences.

Firstly on the opening of the bank account I have decided to use 'Banco de Espirito Santo' as they have a branch in London not far from where I live. Now some say that all I need is proof of an address in Portugal or a pending address, proof of address in the U.K. my passport and a minimum 250 euros. Others say that in addition to the above I will need to give evidence of what I do for a living (presumably in the U.K.) some form of my income tax status and bizzarely my birth certificate.

Has any one out there opened an bank account recently and can clarify this for me please.

Secondly, some are saying that if I open a Portuguese bank account I automatically will receive a fiscal identification card without having to go to the local tax office and others are saying differently.... once again has anyone out there who has been through this recently and can help?

Thirdly, I have read consistently that as the cost of the property is less than 80.000 euros I will not have to pay any transfer tax... is this an up to date position?

Most information I've had says that averagely lawyers charge 2% of the selling cost of the property and notaries around the same amount is this vaguely correct and are there other significant costs that I should be aware of?

Finally, has anyone had any experience(good or bad) of depositing money into a Trust account for the ultimate purpose of transferring money to the vendor at the conclusion of the sale? Or maybe you would be so kind as to letting me know how you actually made the transaction etc.

Many thanks
Jaylin

We opened a bank account with the Caixa and have had no problems at all and they too have an office in London. Only needed a passport, address in Portugal and a tax number. The new legislation does say you require a birth certificate but banks in Beiras region don't seem to be requesting this at the moment.

No tax to pay on urban properties if the purchase price is under 80,000 euros.

No need to open a trust account - just open an account with someone like Worldwide currencies (I opened several accounts with different specialists as this doesn't cost anything but time) and transfer the money when it is needed - ours arrived the next day every time we used Worldwide Currencies and they offered better rates than any of the others currency specialists I phoned on the day, every time.

Our solicitor charged a fixed fee of 500 euros - cost of property 72,500 euros so 2% seems very high. Other costs were no where near 2%, not even the notary fees (done in Pedrogao Grande). I guess cost can very much depend on the location.
Thanks
Julio