In order to promote foreign investment, countries have different strategies to attract the greatest amount of economic resources from abroad: this is how it appears, paying as an investor and achieving citizenship.
These strategies are usually subject to the fiscal restrictions that the State offers, the possible barriers that people have depending on the passport they have or the amount and the investment sector.
One of the main stimuli is investment residences and tax rates. Residency by investment is a process by which citizens of the world can obtain a special permit (sometimes known as a green card) to obtain secondary citizenship through an investment in the economy of an independent sovereign State. The benefits are the ease of, in a certain case, applying for citizenship in the country of investment and the tax and association advantages therein.
The countries with the best conditions
Henley & Partners, a firm for visa and special permit issues, annually publishes a report on the best countries to apply for residency by investment, taking into account factors such as the tax burden of each country on foreign investment, investment requirements or the reputation of a country.
The firm, in its most recent report, recognized Portugal as the best nation to apply for residency by investment thanks to the favorable tax burden that investors must assume for their corporate and personal economic activities, the number of countries to which an investor could go with their residence permit and your quality of life.
With a final score of 74, Portugal surpassed other European nations such as Austria, Greece, Italy and Switzerland who completed the top.
The Portuguese Golden Visa stipulates that to apply for residency by investment, interested parties can invest in the real estate, residential or hotel sector with investments of US$304,000. In addition, Another way to access residency through investment is a contribution of US$544,400 for the purchase of new or used residential properties in the interior areas of the country.
Although Portugal holds first place in the ranking, it is not the leader in all study categories. For example, in the tax burden on foreign investment, the first place is occupied by the United Arab Emirates. The Middle Eastern nation has “free zones,” foreign-owned spaces located in ports that have tariff and tax exemptions.
Austria leads the way when it comes to investment requirements. This category, which is based on the minimum investment amounts, the investment offer and stay conditions, measures how restrictive the measures are for foreign investment. To acquire residency, applicants must have US$43,500 in liquid funds in a bank account, demonstrate knowledge of German (A1), have private health insurance and provide evidence of permanent residential real estate regardless of whether it is purchased or leased.
