# Moving to Portugal to work



## ben&cat (Jul 14, 2011)

Hi everyone,

My girlfriend and I are thinking of moving to the Algarve (hopefully Lagos) towards the end of this year (October/November) for both work and language experience. Our main question is about self-employment.

We are both 23 and currently living in France. I am a British national, she is a Portuguese citizen but grew up for the most part in the UK. We both have BA Hons degrees in Modern Foreign Languages from a UK university.

I am currently a self-employed translator, having registered under the _Auto-Entrepreneur_ scheme in France. The business is doing well, but we would like a change of scenery and, personally, I would love the opportunity to improve my level of spoken Portuguese.

I have been looking into information about setting myself up as a self-employed translator in Portugal but must admit that I'm getting a bit lost! I would really appreciate any advice and/or information in relation to this.

Thanks a lot,

Ben and Catia


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## siobhanwf (Mar 20, 2009)

ben&cat said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> My girlfriend and I are thinking of moving to the Algarve (hopefully Lagos) towards the end of this year (October/November) for both work and language experience. Our main question is about self-employment.
> 
> ...



It would be ideal if you could perhaps manage to do a lot of you business via internet


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## ben&cat (Jul 14, 2011)

siobhanwf said:


> It would be ideal if you could perhaps manage to do a lot of you business via internet


Thanks for your reply siobhanwf.

My business is indeed mainly internet-based and would continue to be in Portugal, on top of any work with local companies.

My question is rather what I would have to do / the steps I need to take to set myself up as a self-employed translator in Portugal. For example, what statuses are available for being self-employed, what sort of percentages would I be paying for taxes and social security etc.?

As an example, my current status in France is that of an _Auto-Entrepreneur_, which means I have created a company consisting only of myself and, due to certain advantages of being young, I pay 7.7% of my monthly turnover for social security and income tax together. I am also exempt from VAT. I was able to get all the necessary forms online and was issued my SIRET number etc. within about 2 weeks.
I work from home, sending my translations to the client via e-mail and I invoice them directly.

Thanks,


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

First 18 months social security free (might be 12)
You purchase a Green Book which is blue to invoice/receipt for work completed, you deduct and pay appox 25-32% against tax & Social security liability, plus IVA (VAT) if turnover above ?

You should really consult an accountant to investigate the other methods of being self employed, company etc. It is neither that easy or cheap here.


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## siobhanwf (Mar 20, 2009)

Belvin Franks might be able to help with advice on that


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## notlongnow (May 21, 2009)

"I pay 7.7% of my monthly turnover for social security and income tax together. I am also exempt from VAT."

That's an insanely good deal which, I hate to say, you won't come even close to matching in Portugal.....


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