More Than 183 Days in Any Twelve Months, or a Home You Mean to Keep
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Belize on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
98 exceptions recorded across 37 countries · none match Belize to Portugal · When you become a tax resident
Portugal has two ordinary tests and they are not the same shape. The first is presence: more than 183 days, consecutive or not, in any twelve-month period starting or ending in the year - so the window is not the calendar year and can straddle two of them. The second needs no day count at all: having stayed less time, you are resident if on any day of that period you had a home here in conditions suggesting a present intention to keep and occupy it as your habitual residence. A day of presence is any day, whole or partial, that includes a night spent here. Residence begins on the first day of the stay, not at the end of the count, and it is assessed for each member of a household separately.
At a glance
- Day test
- More than 183 days in any 12-month period starting or ending in the year
- What counts as a day
- Any day, whole or partial, that includes a night spent here
Article 16(2).
- The second test
- A home kept in conditions showing you mean it to be your habitual residence
Article 16(1)(b), with no day count at all.
- When residence starts
- The first day of the stay, not the day the count is met
Article 16(3), or the first day of the year if you were resident on any day of the year before.
- When it ends
- The last day of presence in the territory
- Assessed per person
- For each taxpayer in the household separately
Article 16(5).
- Portuguese nationals moving to a listed low-tax territory
- Still resident for that year and the four following, unless they prove the move had a sound reason
Article 16(6). It reaches nationals, not foreigners.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Belize
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«São residentes em território português as pessoas que, no ano a que respeitam os rendimentos: a) Hajam nele permanecido mais de 183 dias, seguidos ou interpolados, em qualquer período de 12 meses com início ou fim no ano em causa; b) Tendo permanecido por menos tempo, aí disponham, num qualquer dia do período referido na alínea anterior, de habitação em condições que façam supor intenção atual de a manter e ocupar como residência habitual; c) Em 31 de dezembro, sejam tripulantes de navios ou aeronaves, desde que aqueles estejam ao serviço de entidades com residência, sede ou direção efetiva nesse território; d) Desempenhem no estrangeiro funções ou comissões de carácter público, ao serviço do Estado Português.»The four limbs. The first two are the ones that reach an ordinary mover; the third and fourth are for crews and for public office abroad.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Portuguese tax administration's own publication of the tax codes, one article to a page, each page carrying the article as it currently stands and notes on the amending laws behind it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The administration's rendering of the codes rather than the gazette text, published for taxpayers. Pages carry transitional notes about superseded regimes without always dating them, and nothing on a page says when it was last revised.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Para efeitos do disposto no número anterior, considera-se como dia de presença em território português qualquer dia, completo ou parcial, que inclua dormida no mesmo. 3 - As pessoas que preencham as condições previstas nas alíneas a) ou b) do n.º 1 tornam-se residentes desde o primeiro dia do período de permanência em território português, salvo quando tenham aí sido residentes em qualquer dia do ano anterior, caso em que se consideram residentes neste território desde o primeiro dia do ano em que se verifique qualquer uma das condições previstas no n.º 1. 4 - A perda da qualidade de residente ocorre a partir do último dia de permanência em território português, salvo nos casos previstos nos n.os 14 e 16. 5 - A residência fiscal é aferida em relação a cada sujeito passivo do agregado.»How days are counted, when residence begins and ends, and that it is decided person by person rather than for a household.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Portuguese tax administration's own publication of the tax codes, one article to a page, each page carrying the article as it currently stands and notes on the amending laws behind it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The administration's rendering of the codes rather than the gazette text, published for taxpayers. Pages carry transitional notes about superseded regimes without always dating them, and nothing on a page says when it was last revised.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«São ainda havidos como residentes em território português as pessoas de nacionalidade portuguesa que deslocalizem a sua residência fiscal para país, território ou região, sujeito a um regime fiscal claramente mais favorável constante de lista aprovada por portaria do membro do Governo responsável pela área das finanças, no ano em que se verifique aquela mudança e nos quatro anos subsequentes, salvo se o interessado provar que a mudança se deve a razões atendíveis, designadamente exercício naquele território de atividade temporária por conta de entidade patronal domiciliada em território po»The rule that follows a Portuguese national to a listed territory for five years. It is quoted as far as the page carries it on the line; it continues beyond the cut.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Portuguese tax administration's own publication of the tax codes, one article to a page, each page carrying the article as it currently stands and notes on the amending laws behind it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The administration's rendering of the codes rather than the gazette text, published for taxpayers. Pages carry transitional notes about superseded regimes without always dating them, and nothing on a page says when it was last revised.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The twelve-month window is the part most summaries get wrong. It is not the calendar year: a stay straddling two years can make a person resident in both.
What is quoted is the tax administration's own publication of the Code, article by article. It is not the gazette text, and the page does not say when it was last revised.
A double taxation treaty can override this, and Portugal has one with most of Latin America. None of them is read in this corpus.
- consolidatesCódigo do IRS, artigo 16.º (Residência), as the tax administration publishes it
Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira, Portal das Finanças
About this source
The Portuguese tax administration's own publication of the tax codes, one article to a page, each page carrying the article as it currently stands and notes on the amending laws behind it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The administration's rendering of the codes rather than the gazette text, published for taxpayers. Pages carry transitional notes about superseded regimes without always dating them, and nothing on a page says when it was last revised.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source