Member Article

The 2009 State Budget Bill was presented to Parliament on 15 October. The general discussion and voting on the Bill are scheduled for 5, 6 and 7 November while the special discussion and voting and final overall discussion and voting are scheduled for the 27th and 28th of the same month.

The IRC exemption currently established for gains obtained by non-resident financial institutions arising from swap operations with resident credit institutions or with the State, acting through the Instituto de Gestão da Tesouraria e do Crédito Público, I.P., and the Instituto de Gestão de Fundos de Capitalização da Segurança Social, I.P. is extended to gains deriving from foreign exchange forwards, provided that this interest or these gains are not attributable to a permanent establishment of such institutions situated in Portugal;

69. In the wake of commitments made to the sector associations, a range of support measures for public passenger  and  goods  transport  has  been  introduced,  which  will  apply  until  31  December  2012,  notably: - an exemption from IRC on the positive difference between the gains and loses resulting from for value transfers of certain goods vehicles (acquired and registered prior to 1 July 2008) and vehicles assigned to public passenger transport or taxi transport, provided that the entire proceeds are reinvested . in the same year or the two following financial years . in the acquisition of identical vehicles which remain part of the company.s assets for at least five years;
- a 20% increase, for the purposes of determining the profit liable to IRC, on the costs incurred with the acquisition, in Portugal, of fuel for vehicles which meet certain requirements and which are assigned to the transport of goods by road, public passenger transport or to taxi transport;

70. A range of tax incentive measures for building recovery will be approved in lieu of the Extraordinary Regime for the Support of Urban Renovation introduced by State Budget Law 2008 (which is to be repealed), which will affect rented buildings whose rental payments may be updated under the NRAU or buildings located in .urban recovery areas., based on the following benefits:
- retaining the majority of benefits granted under the Extraordinary Regim for the Support of Urban Renovation, including the IRC exemption on the income, of any nature, obtained by property investment funds created between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2012, whose assets comprise at least 75% of real properties subject to recovery work in urban renovation areas, with those who receive income from unit trusts in the funds being subject to the following regime:
i. liable for IRS or IRC deductions at source at the rate of 10% of the income paid or placed at their disposal by the fund, by way of distribution or redemption (definitive deduction at source when earned by non-resident entities without a permanent establishment in Portugal or IRS resident taxpayers who obtain income from outside the scope of a commercial, industrial or agricultural activity, who may opt for aggregation), unless the holders are entities which are exempt in respect of capital income or non- resident entities without a permanent establishment in Portugal to which the income is attributable, excluding entities resident in a territory with a clearly more favourable tax regime, or entities of which more than 25% is held directly or indirectly by resident entities; ii. possibility for income earners who opt to aggregate the distributed income by applying the double economic taxation avoidance regime to deduct 50% of the income deriving from dividends; and taxation at the rate of 10% of the positive balance between the capital gains and losses arising from the disposal of unit trusts when the holders are non-resident entities to which the exemption set out in Article 26 of the Tax Benefits Statute is not applicable or IRS taxpayers resident in Portugal who obtain income from outside the scope of a commercial, industrial or agricultural activity and do not opt for aggregation;
- separate taxation at the rate of 5% on the gains made by IRS taxpayers resident in Portugal when these arise entirely from the disposal of real property located in .urban recovery areas. recovered according to the  respective  recovery  strategies,  without  adversely  affecting  the  option  for  aggregation; - taxation at the rate of 5% on income from land earned by IRS taxpayers resident in Portugal which derive entirely from the rental of real properties located in .urban recovery areas., recovered according to the respective recovery strategies or rented properties whose rents may be increased in stages under the NRAU, which may be the focus of recovery work  - without adversely  affecting  the  option  for  aggregation;
- IRS relief of 30% of the charges borne by the owner up to a maximum of €500 related to the recovery of real properties located in .urban recovery areas. and recovered according to the respective recovery strategies or rented properties whose rents may be increased in stages under the NRAU, which may be subjected to recovery work;
- IMI exemption for buildings that are subjected to recovery work which may take up to 10 years (5 years renewable for another 5 years) and IMT exemption on the first for value transfer of the building or apartment of the recovered building located in an .urban recovery area. and destined exclusively as a main permanent dwelling. These  exemptions  are  however  conditional  on  the  resolution  of  the  municipal  council; Recovery work which began after 1 January 2008 and will be concluded by 31 December 2020 is eligible for this benefit;
71. A special regime, which will apply until 31 December 2020, will be approved for Residential Letting Real Estate Investment  Funds (FIIAH) and Residential Letting Real Estate Investment Companies (SIIAH) created between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2014 and to the properties they acquire during this same period, comprising the following tax benefits:
- IRC exemption on income of any nature;
- IRS and IRC exemptions in respect of the unit trusts and shares, excluding the positive balance between the capital gains and losses resulting from the disposal paid or placed at the disposal of the respective holders, whether by distribution or refund;
- IRS exemption in respect of the gains arising to the FIIAH and SIIAH from the transfer of properties destined for dwelling purposes and coming about by virtue of the conversion of the right of ownership to these properties into a letting right, and the tax relief, within certain limits, on the amounts paid by the lessor of the  properties  as  a  result  of  the  conversion  of  the  right  of  ownership  into  a  letting  right;
- IMI exemption on buildings which are part of the assets of the FIIAH and SIIAH and destined for letting as permanent dwellings for so long as they remain in their ownership;
- IMT exemption on the acquisition of building or apartments destined exclusively for rental for dwelling purposes;
- IMT exemption on the acquisition as a main and permanent dwelling as a result of the exercise of the purchase  option  by  tenants  of  the  properties  which  belong  to  the  assets  of  the  FIIAH  and  SIIAH;
- Stamp Duty exemption on all the acts carried out, provided that they are connected with the transfer of buildings destined for permanent dwelling purposes and came about by virtue of the conversion of the right of ownership of these properties into a letting right as well as with the exercise of the purchase option over these same properties;
- Exemption from the FIIAH management bodies supervisory rates exclusively in respect of the management of this type of funds;

The FIIAH, whose creation, operating and marketing of the respective unit trusts is governed by the Legal Regime on  Real  Estate  Investment  Funds,  are  also  subject  to  a  number  of  specific  rules,  such  as:
- the obligation to incorporate in the form of closed public subscription funds; - the obligation, during the first year of activity, for the total asset value of the FIIAH to reach a minimum of €10 million and to have at least 100 participants, whose individual participation may not exceed 20% of the total asset value of the fund, or be subject to the immediate and automatic suspension of the right to  distribute  the  FIIAH  income  in  the  amount  of  the  participation  in  excess  of  that  limit;
- the obligation for the total FIIAH assets to comprise at least 75% real estate situated in Portugal destined for letting as permanent dwellings;
- the possibility for mortgage loan borrowers who dispose of the property which is the subject-matter of the agreement to an FIIAH to enter into a rental agreement with the fund management company and hold an option to purchase the property from the fund, which may be exercised up to 31 December 2020;
72. The government is granted legislative powers to amend the tax benefits regime for investments of a contractual nature set out in Article 41 of the Tax Benefits Statute and the regulations thereto with a view to, among other things:
- extending the duration of the regime to 31 December 2020 raising  the  minimum  amount  of  applications  relevant  to  the  eligibility  of  the  projects;
- redefining the conditions for access and appraisal of the applications, requiring that the projects be assessed in terms of their structuring effect on the economy, job creation, maintenance and qualification, and of their contribution to technological innovation and national scientific research;
- encompassing the new community provisions on state aid;
- reviewing and integrating a research and development incentive regime.