RSI only after a year in Portugal, savings tax breaks promised for 2027, and a certified ID copy to change a NIF address
Under 4% of RSI recipients are foreigners, a third of them Ukrainians. Reddit: non-EU citizens need a year's legal residence
The RSI benefit (Rendimento Social de Inserção) is a minimum income from Segurança Social for people with nothing to live on. At the end of October the Secretary of State for Social Security gave figures in parliament: of 190,000 recipients, about 6,500 are foreigners, under 4%, and just over 2,400 of them are Ukrainians who arrived in 2022 (our report).
Some were surprised that foreigners get RSI at all. Others replied that there was nothing new in this: the conditions have long been known — legal residence in Portugal (at least a year for citizens of non-EU countries) and being an adult. Still others pointed out that one in three foreigners on RSI is Ukrainian and said it would be madness to stop helping them.
“And another important detail: according to the Secretary of State, one in three foreigners receiving RSI is a Ukrainian who came to Portugal in 2022. That’s for everyone saying it should be zero. Stopping help for them would be madness, in my view.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal31.10.2026
“I don’t envy other people’s poverty. If someone is on RSI, their life isn’t going well. Whoever this bothers doesn’t get it: the better the people around you live, the better off everyone is.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal31.10.2026
Citizens of non-EU countries can get RSI only after more than a year of legal residence in Portugal; no record of contributions is needed.
Savings tax breaks are promised for the first half of 2027, but Reddit is sceptical: interest on deposits is taxed at 28%
The Secretary of State for the Budget, José Maria Brandão de Brito, told Jornal de Negócios in an interview that in the first half of 2027 the government will present a “manifesto” to encourage saving, with tax breaks (Jornal de Negócios). It has not yet said which ones.
On r/literaciafinanceira, where people discuss personal finance, hardly anyone believes the promise. Commenters point out that interest on fixed-term deposits and on the state savings certificates, Certificados de Aforro, is taxed at 28%, even though in the second case the money is lent to the state itself. They fear the banks will swallow up any tax break in fees, as has happened with PPR pension plans, and want an account modelled on the British ISA, whose income is tax-free.
“The tax on Certificados de Aforro is the most absurd thing there is: we lend money to the state and then pay the same state tax on the income from what we lent it. I understand taxes are needed, but 28% on the savings of someone who has already paid IRS — it feels like they want to keep people poor.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira30.10.2026
“Mark my words: the banks will eat these tax breaks up in fees, just like with PPR.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira30.10.2026
“I’d really like saving to be encouraged with something like ISA accounts in the UK. I hope it won’t all come down to pushing people towards bank products.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira30.10.2026
For now nothing has changed: 28% is still withheld from interest on deposits and certificates.
An EU citizen couldn’t change her NIF address via e-balcão without a certified passport copy and booked a tax office visit
A citizen of another EU country got a five-year EU citizen registration certificate from the municipality and rented a home with a tenancy agreement. She wanted to change the foreign address on her NIF to a Portuguese one via e-balcão, the request service on the tax authority’s Portal das Finanças website. The tax office replied that a certified copy of an identity document was needed.
This is a requirement of Decree-Law 14/2013 on the NIF: documents are accepted as originals or certified copies, and a plain copy only together with the original. In the chat she was advised to send a notarised copy of her passport or ID card, or better still both. She booked an appointment at the tax office so she could bring the originals in person. In the chat she was also told that her passport, registration certificate and tenancy agreement should be enough, and that a certificate of residence from the junta (junta de freguesia, the parish council) was not needed.
“You need to send them a notarised copy of your passport (or ID, or better still both at once).”
Translated from Russianleft4portugal01.11.2026
“In theory nothing else is required beyond what you’ve listed.”
Translated from Russianleft4portugal01.11.2026
Via e-balcão, a NIF address can only be changed with a certified copy of an identity document; if you don’t have one, go to the tax office with the original.
Reddit calls social-media “travel designers” multi-level marketing: complaints include luggage not covered by the price
A user on r/portugal asked why nobody talks about “travel consultants”: more and more of them are appearing on social media, most often from iCliGo, and some call themselves “travel designers”. The scheme works in tiers: each person earns a percentage of the sales of those they recruit into their team — multi-level marketing. One commenter described a friend high up in one such network whose whole life revolves around recruiting newcomers and training sessions.
“A close friend of mine is fairly high up the ‘food chain’ of one of these trip-selling networks. Honestly, it looks like a cult. Her whole life revolves around recruiting people, personal growth training and making money for financial independence.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal01.11.2026
Most comments were warnings. The consultants themselves, commenters say, have travelled little and don’t know entry rules or visa requirements, and complaints on Portal da Queixa are about basic things, such as luggage not being included in the price. Someone who works in the travel industry says they draw up itineraries with AI and make their money selling courses. But there was also a satisfied customer, who bought a trip from a friend just starting out: the price was the same as online, she added insurance, and everything went smoothly.
“It’s a pyramid-type scheme. I travel a lot and had a public Instagram — nothing but invitations: ‘two places opening in my team’, ‘I’ll train you’. Most of these consultants have barely been outside Portugal or Europe and don’t know the laws or entry rules. Read the reviews on Portal da Queixa: basic stuff, like the luggage turning out not to be included.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal31.10.2026
“I work in this field, mostly with mid-sized travel agencies. These travel designers just make money off AI: it draws up their itineraries, sometimes very good ones, and then they sell fairy tales and that famous course for big money. The hard part of an itinerary isn’t drawing it up, it’s the logistics, what the client wants and an honest price.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal31.10.2026
“I bought a trip from a friend who was just starting out with this company, to support her. The price was the same as I’d seen online, she saved me the time of searching for hotels and added insurance too. Everything went well.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal31.10.2026
Advice from the discussion: before buying from such a consultant, check what is included in the price and read the reviews on Portal da Queixa.
Splitting a plot into lots takes at least five years to approve and up to €1 million for roads and sewers, says Reddit
The owner of a plot with a house on it wanted to wall off the house, build several semi-detached houses on the rest of the land, as the neighbours have done, and sell them. Dividing land like this is called loteamento and requires permission from the municipality (câmara municipal).
Commenters advised against it. Approval takes at least five years, and roads, sewers, pavements, green space and the land handed over to the municipality cost between half a million and a million euros — and that is before any building starts. Until the lots are sold, the taxes are noticeably higher. The plan, they say, has neither the unsealed ground the municipality requires nor any parking spaces.
“A loteamento takes at least five years to approve, and that’s if it’s quick. You’ll have to put in between half a million and a million euros, and that’s just for infrastructure, sewers, pavements, green space, handing land over to the municipality — before you spend a single cent on construction. Better to build a single-storey house there with a T1 and a T2. Or two semi-detached houses. Remember: loteamento is hell.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira31.10.2026
“The process is hellishly expensive, and once the plot becomes lots, the taxes you’ll pay until you sell will go up noticeably. I’m not saying it’s a bad investment — I’m saying it eats a lot of money before it starts paying off.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira31.10.2026
They advise asking the câmara first, not Reddit, and considering simpler options: applying for a PIP (pedido de informação prévia — a preliminary answer from the municipality on whether you can build like that) for a single building with several flats, although the floor area would then have to be cut, or building two semi-detached houses.
“Of course you need to ask the câmara, not Reddit. But it won’t work for three reasons: the plan has no unsealed ground, no parking spaces, and a loteamento permit is one of the most painful kinds of approval. Instead: apply for a PIP for a single building with several flats, but you’ll have to cut the floor area in half.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira31.10.2026
