Taxpayers residing outside the EU are no longer required to have a tax representative if they do not have to pay any tax in Portugal, maintaining the obligation if they have a car or house in the country.
In fact, according to a Circular Letter of the Tax and Customs Authority (AT), "A citizen who, cumulatively, does not have tax domicile in Portugal or in the European Union or in the European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), does not meet the legal conditions to have the tax status of resident, is not a taxable person of the tax, in the light of the provisions of paragraph 3 of article 18 of the LGT and is not subject to the fulfillment of obligations or intends to exercise any rights with the tax administration, is not obliged to appoint a tax representative".
The same understanding states that the obligation to appoint the tax representative in Portugal becomes mandatory if, after the assignment of NIF as a non-resident and while residing in a third country, the taxpayer "becomes subject to a tax legal relationship", comes, inter alia, to be the owner of a vehicle and/or a registered property / located in the territory Portuguese, to conclude a contract of employment in Portuguese territory or to pursue an activity on a self-employed basis in Portuguese territory.