Representation
One of the pillars of my services is representation.
What does this mean?
There are several forms of representation:
- In an informal way clients could ask somebody to represent him/her in a certain case or event. This can be done by verbal or written request or even without the consent of the third party. Depending on the situation the other party dealing with it may or may not except my word. This form of representation is called in Portuguese “Gestão de Negócios”. Although maybe a lesser form of representation compared to somebody holding a full Power of Attorney issued in front of the Notary of Public, it also puts duties and rights on both parties and this subject has been dealt with in the Portuguese Civil Law Book in art. 464º and further. It also deals or indicates if and how remuneration is settled.
- The most formal way of representation is by means of issuing a Power of Attorney (Procuração in Portuguese) in someone favour. This is a formal act celebrated in front of a Portuguese Notary of Public or can be done as well with Portuguese consulates abroad or even in front of Notary in your own native language, after which these documents in order to have Power in Portugal has to be officially translated in Portuguese and recognized by a Portuguese Notary. All duties and rights related to this type of representation are dealt with in art. 263º of the Portuguese Civil Law. Sometimes these Power of Attorneys are made for a limited period, sometimes they are unlimited. In other cases it will have the Power to transfer to power to a third person. (Poderes de substabelecer)
In my case it could be that people want to give Power of Attorney to buy or sell on their behalf or deal with other matters. As the majority of the people do not speak the language it is quite common that you leave a Power of Attorney with somebody you trust and can converse with.
An other form of representation is fiscal representation. In case somebody intends to purchase anything substantial in Portugal they need to obtain a fiscal or tax number (N.I.F. = Numero de Identificação Fiscal). When you do this application you have to indicate an address in Portugal. As you normally do not have a property yet normally the address of a lawyer or agent is used. This will mean that all future correspondence will be forwarded to this address, for example your final tax card. In the beginning you will receive a copy of a document stating the application has been made. In case you purchase a property in the future it will also mean that invoices for rates will be sent to that address. It all depends on the relation you have with the person which address is used if he will forward it to you or he may even pay it on your behalf. No doubt you will appreciate that lawyers may have hundreds of people have their fiscal address with them and it is impossible to keep track of that. For that reason it is your responsibility to officially change the fiscal address if you want to receive it yourself. As mentioned before it has to be a Portuguese address and not a post box number.
We have to make in this case a distinction between people being resident in Portugal or people who are not. If a resident obviously you can be traced. If case of a non-resident the tax authorities will hold the person on who address the person is registered liable for any debt to the state.
Another form of representation is that of acting on behalf of an off-shore company. As from January the first off-shore companies need to appoint a legal and fiscal representative in Portugal. He will be responsible for all t axes and obligations which are now laid down by law. This means for example the submission of the yearly IRC (corporate tax) declarations, which for the first time will have to be done before May 2003 related<