Moving guides
From Portugal to Cayman Islands
What changes in tax when you move from Portugal to Cayman Islands: what you pay today, what you would pay there and the rules Portugal applies when you leave.
What you would save
With €150,000 a year in dividends or foreign income, compared as a genuine resident of each country.
Leaving Portugal
- More than 183 days in any 12-month period. You are resident if you spend more than 183 days in Portugal, consecutive or not, in any 12-month period starting or ending in the tax year.
- Habitual residence. With fewer days, you are still resident if at any time in that 12-month period you have a home in Portugal in conditions suggesting you intend to keep and use it as your habitual residence.
- Part-year residence. Since 2015 residence normally starts on the first day of stay and ends on the last day, so a year can be split into resident and non-resident periods, with some exceptions.
Rules that can follow you after leaving
- Portuguese nationals moving to a blacklisted territory stay resident 4 more years. Portuguese nationals who move tax residence to a territory on the government blacklist remain Portuguese residents in the year of the move and the four following years, unless they prove valid reasons such as temporary work.
Exit tax in Portugal
No general exit tax for individuals
Leaving Portugal does not trigger tax on unrealised gains on ordinary shares or property. Specific exceptions: gains previously deferred on tax-neutral share exchanges or on transferring a sole-trader business into a company can become taxable on loss of residence, and loss of residence is treated as a disposal of crypto-assets (since 2023).
Arriving in Cayman Islands
Personal income: 0% · Company tax: 0%
Residency by financial independence or an investment of several million.
No strict minimum.
No direct taxes. It is on the Spanish blacklist: the five-year rule applies to Spaniards.
Living there
Steps to residency
- 2 weeksChoose route: Persons of Independent Means or real estate investment certificate
- 8 weeksMake qualifying real estate investment
- 2 weeksSubmit application to WORC with police and medical checks
- 12 weeksApproval and residency certificate
About 24 weeks in total
Official websites: Tax authority · Immigration
Approximate figures that change often; check them before deciding.