Aircraft Registration Asset Protection Bank Accounts Company Administration Company Incorporation Film Administration & Co-production Inheritance Planning Intellectual Property Structures International Trade Structures Property Ownership Structures Royalties & Intellectual Property Tax Planning Tax Residency Certificates Trusts VAT/TVA Services Yacht Registration   Sophisticated answers for tax planning, asset protection & inheritance planning.           Name:      E-Mail:       Copyright  © 2008 ILS Group | Privacy Policy

Newsletter | Articles Portuguese Government Experiments with Simpler Property Purchasing Process In 2006 the Portuguese Government embarked on an ambitious programme named Simplex. It’s designed to reduce red tape by having government departments and agencies examine and improve the processes they use to interact with businesses and the public. The aim is to encourage: Simplification Deregulation Harmonisation Eliminating certificates and paper One highlight of particular interest to Dossier readers is the ‘Casa Pronta’ (literally ‘Ready House’) initiative. Before this initiative a property purchase involved at least one separate visit to the land registry, tax department and a notary, a process which could take more than two months to complete. The aim of Casa Pronta is to allow a purchaser to deal with all the documentation and deeds in one single step in the same office, either the land registry office or at the Loja do Cidadão, a local office which processes passports, ID cards, utility bill payments etc. The purchaser can obtain the property documents, pay IMT (transfer tax), sign the deed of sale and register the new ownership of the property. Costs are unchanged. For now this scheme is on an experimental basis in five locations in Portugal until June 2007. The Dossier will inform you of the outcome of the experiment. Paulo Réfega, Director of ILS Portugal, has full details of how clients can take advantage of this new fast-tracking process. He also helps clients establish the right ownership structure for their circumstances before they commit to a Portuguese property purchase. Contact Paulo for further information on structuring and property ownership in Portugal.