Local Accommodation Guide

LOCAL ACCOMMODATION GUIDE
Learn all requirements and obligations
LOCAL ACCOMMODATION GUIDE ( ALOJAMENTO LOCAL [AL] )
UWU SOLUTIONS | WWW.UWU.PT | [email protected]
1
INTRODUCTION
The traditional lease and local accommodation (LA) are different and have their own legislation. The main
difference between the two is that, unlike the traditional lease, the Local Accommodation provides a
service that demands much more than the simple accommodation. The Local Accommodation requires
assets like furniture, home appliances, bed sheets, bath towels, kitchen equipment and other facilities,
very similar to the hotel industry.
Thus, if you dedicate yourself to the local accommodation, your property needs to be completely
furnished, equipped, and other complementary services like home cleaning and reception must be
provided for a maximum period of 30 days. It must also be advertised as a temporary accommodation or
as tourist rental.
1 - INTRODUCTION
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LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
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MERE PRIOR NOTIFICATION
a) You will have to register your property. You can do that through a “Mere Prior
Notification” (Mera Comunicação Prévia) to the mayor. The registration will be
done automatically through the “Electronic Single Counter” (Balcão Único
Eletrónico);
b) The request is free of charge. The Electronic Single Counter will issue a valid
Portuguese license to open it for business (título válido de abertura), with the
property’s reference number.
2 - LEGAL REQUIREMENTS | MERE PRIOR NOTIFICATION
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2
LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
REQUIREMENTS TO BE CONSIDERED A LOCAL ACCOMMODATION
a) The total of bedrooms in your properties must not exceed 9 and they cannot
accommodate more than 30 people (unless they are classified as a “Hostel”);
j) The properties must include hygiene and cleaning conditions at all times;
b) Your properties must be in perfect conditions, with all installation works and
equipment working appropriately;
can be acquired on the Portuguese Mint and Official Printing Office’s (INCM ) website)
k) It is also mandatory that all properties have a Complaints Book. (The said book
c) All properties must be connected to the public water supply network and the
public sewage network;
d) They must include tap water;
e) They must contain at least one window or balcony connected directly to the
exterior so to ensures it has the appropriate ventilation conditions;
f)All properties must include furniture, equipment and the appropriate home
utensils;
g) They must contain window blinds systems;
h) They must contain doors equipped with a security system that ensures
guests’ privacy;
i) Toilets must contain a security system that ensures guests’ privacy;
2 - LEGAL REQUIREMENTS | REQUIREMENTS TO BE CONSIDERED A LOCAL ACCOMMODATION
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2
LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
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SAFETY REQUIREMENTS
a) Every house must comply with security requirements against fire risks
(Decree-Law 220/2008 and Decree Order 1532/2008);
b) All properties with a total capacity to accommodate 10 or less people must
include a fire-extinguisher, a fire blanket, a first aid kit and the national
emergency telephone number in a well visible place.
2 - LEGAL REQUIREMENTS | SAFETY REQUIREMENTS
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2
LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
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DISCLOSING THE ENTERING AND EXITING OF FOREIGNERS
a) You can disclose to the Portuguese competent authorities about the entering
and exiting of foreigners in a safe and electronic way, by registering on the
Immigration and Borders Service (SEF) as a user of the Accommodation Bulletin
(Boletim de Alojamento) Information System.
b) You must notify the entering and exiting of foreign guests in a period of three
working days, starting from the check in day; and
c) You will have to keep the bulletins and their copies for a year.
2 - LEGAL REQUIREMENTS | DISCLOSING THE ENTERING AND EXITING OF FOREIGNERS
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2
LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
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ELECTRONIC GREEN RECEIPT
a) If your service just includes the provision of services (and not the selling of
goods) then you can issue an invoice-receipt (fatura-recibo) (also known as
Electronic Green Receipt [Recibo Verde Eletrónico]) on the Portuguese Finances
Institution (Portal das Finanças);
b) Another way you can issue an invoice is by accessing a certified program for that
purpose.
2 - LEGAL REQUIREMENTS | ELECTRONIC GREEN RECEIPT
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HOW YOUR PROFITS WILL BE TAXED
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INCOME TAX
a) The first step you have to take if you want to rent a house to tourists is to register on the Tax
Administration your accommodation service activity;
b) Every profit earned with the local accommodation activity will be taxed by the B category, e.g., as
business profit.
c) There are two tax regimes:
i. Simplified Regime (Regime Simplificado) – if your profit from your local accommodation activity
is less than 200,000 euros, you can choose between the simplified regime and the organized
accounts regime; on the simplified regime, the profit to be taxed will be calculated with the 0.15
coefficient, which is applied to hotel services and other similar activities. This means you will only
pay 15 percent of your total profit, since the other 85 will be regarded as costs of the activity, thus
not object of taxation.
ii.Organized accounts – If you earn more than 200,000 euros a year with your local
accommodation activity, then you will be included automatically on the organized accounts
regime. In this case, your taxable profit will be determined by the terms and rules of the IRC
(corporation tax), according to the applicable adaptations.
3 - HOW YOUR PROFITS WILL BE TAXED | INCOME TAX
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HOW YOUR PROFITS WILL BE TAXED
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CORPORATE INCOME TAX
a) When the Local Accommodation activity is performed by a
company, the taxation will be done according to the standard
Corporation Tax rules; i.e., a fixed rate of 21 percent will be applied
to the profit earned (in case of SME, the first 15,000 euros will be
taxed at a rate of 17 percent).
3 - HOW YOUR PROFITS WILL BE TAXED | CORPORATE INCOME TAX
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HOW YOUR PROFITS WILL
BE TAXED
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VAT
a) Since the local accommodation activity is regarded as a services provider, it is subjected
to VAT at the reduced rate of 6 percent;
b) The VAT rate is applied to the price of the accommodation and breakfast, however, if
you choose the simplified regime and if your annual income is inferior to 10,000 euros,
you can claim to be exempt from VAT;
c) If you are not exempt from VAT, you will have to pay this tax through a periodic return
of VAT, which can be monthly or quarterly whether the activity turnover is superior or
inferior to the amount of 650,000 euros. The periodic return is done on the Portuguese
Finances Institution website “Portal das Finanças”.
3 - HOW YOUR PROFITS WILL BE TAXED | VAT
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LOCAL ACCOMMODATION GUIDE
Learn all requirements and obligations
grupo
LOCAL ACCOMMODATION GUIDE ( ALOJAMENTO LOCAL [AL] )
UWU SOLUTIONS
WWW.UWU.PT
[email protected]
213 030 920
UWU SOLUTIONS, LDA.
WWW.UWU.PT
UWU SOLUTIONS | WWW.UWU.PT | [email protected]