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Property Taxes in Portugal for Residents and Foreign Owners

Researched and written with AI tools from official sources. How we make our guides

What you pay to buy, own, and sell property in Portugal: IMT and stamp duty, yearly IMI and AIMI, the payment calendar, and tax on gains.

The Portugal Brief 14 min read

Property Taxes in Portugal for Residents and Foreign Owners

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You are buying a home in Portugal, as a resident or from abroad.
  • You already own property here and want to know what you pay each year, and when.
  • You plan to sell and want to know how the gain is taxed.

Not for you if: you rent your property out and want to know how to declare the rent. Read Declaring Rental Income as a Landlord in Portugal instead.

Updated October 2026. Since May 2026, buyers who are not tax resident in Portugal pay a flat 7.5% transfer tax on homes, unless they become resident within two years. You also now have up to 30 days to pay IMT once it is assessed.

Owning property in Portugal brings up to four taxes. When you buy, you pay the property transfer tax (IMT) and stamp duty. Every year you pay the municipal property tax (IMI), and a few owners also pay an extra tax on high-value property (AIMI). When you sell, any gain goes on your income tax return. For a €250,000 home you will live in, expect about €7,042 in IMT plus €2,000 in stamp duty. IMI is usually 0.3% to 0.45% of the property's tax value each year, paid from May.

The tax value of your property

Most of these taxes start from the property's tax value, the valor patrimonial tributário (VPT). The tax office (Finanças) sets it with a formula based on the property's size, use, age, and location. It is often different from the price you pay.

You can see the VPT on the property record, the caderneta predial. Download it free on the Portal das Finanças, under the property section ("Imóveis", then "Consultar Património Predial"). The record shows the property, its owners, and its tax value. It is valid for 12 months.

Check the caderneta before you buy. The use it records (housing, shop, land) changes which tax rates apply.

Taxes when you buy: IMT

IMT (imposto municipal sobre as transmissões onerosas de imóveis) is a one-off tax the buyer pays. It is charged on the price in the deed or on the VPT, whichever is higher.

The rate depends on what you buy and how you will use it.

A home you will live in (own permanent home). The rates for 2026 are:

Value (€)Marginal rate
Up to 106,3460% (exempt)
106,346 to 145,4702%
145,470 to 198,3475%
198,347 to 330,5397%
330,539 to 660,9828%
660,982 to 1,150,8536% on the whole value
Over 1,150,8537.5% on the whole value

The brackets do not work exactly like income tax. Finanças applies an average rate to the part up to the highest bracket that fits, and the next marginal rate to the rest. The Portal das Finanças has an IMT simulator that does this for you.

Example. A €250,000 flat you will live in costs €7,041.96 in IMT.

A second home, or a home you will let. The same brackets apply, but there is no exempt band. You pay 1% up to €106,346, and the 8% band ends at €633,931. A €250,000 second home costs €8,105.49 in IMT.

Other property. Rural land (prédio rústico) pays a flat 5%. Shops, offices, building plots, and other urban property pay a flat 6.5%.

Companies in tax havens. A buyer based in a country on Portugal's tax haven list pays 10%, with no exemptions. This does not apply to individuals.

If you are not tax resident in Portugal

Since May 2026, if you are not tax resident in Portugal, you pay a flat 7.5% on a home. No exemption or reduced band applies. A €250,000 flat would cost €18,750 in IMT.

You pay the normal rates instead if one of these applies:

  • You were already treated as tax resident in Portugal.
  • You become tax resident within two years of buying.
  • You let the home on a long lease at a rent within the government's affordable limits, starting within six months, for at least 36 months in the first five years.

In the last two cases you pay 7.5% at the deed and then claim the difference back. Apply to Finanças within six months of becoming resident, or of signing the lease. If you are moving to Portugal, keep proof of the date you became resident. See Becoming a Tax Resident in Portugal.

If you are 35 or under

If you are 35 or under on the day you buy, the law gives you a wider exemption on your first home. It covers your own permanent home up to €330,539. Above that, you pay 8% on the part between €330,539 and €660,982. Above €660,982 the normal single rate applies.

You qualify only if all of these are true:

  • You are 35 or under on the date of the deed.
  • No one claims you as a dependant on their tax return that year.
  • You have not owned a home, or a share of one, in the three years before.

Couples are assessed one by one, half each. You also get stamp duty relief up to the same €330,539 limit.

Keeping the own-home rates

The exemption and the lower own-home rates depend on what you do next. You lose them, and owe the difference, if:

  • you do not move in within six months of buying, or
  • you use the home for something else within six years.

Selling, a change in your family (marriage, divorce, a new dependant), or a new job more than 100 km away does not count as a change of use. Letting the home, or using it for short-term holiday rental, does. Your tax address (domicílio fiscal) at the property is the proof that you live there.

Stamp duty on a purchase

Stamp duty (imposto do selo) is 0.8% of the price or VPT, on the same base as IMT. On a €250,000 home it is €2,000.

If you take a mortgage, stamp duty also applies to the loan amount:

  • 0.6% for a loan of five years or more (most mortgages);
  • 0.5% for a loan of one to five years.

The bank collects this when it lends you the money.

How to pay IMT and stamp duty

  1. Before the deed, you, your lawyer, or your solicitor submit the IMT declaration to Finanças. On it you state how you will use the property.
  2. Finanças issues a payment document for IMT and stamp duty.
  3. Pay it on the same day or within 30 days. If you do not, the assessment lapses and you start again.
  4. Bring the proof of payment to the deed. A notary or other official cannot sign the deed without it.

You need a Portuguese tax number (NIF) to buy. See Getting a NIF (Tax Number) in Portugal. To check what is registered on a property before you buy, see Getting a Permanent Land Registry Certificate in Portugal.

Taxes every year: IMI

IMI (imposto municipal sobre imóveis) is a yearly tax on property you own. Whoever owns the property on 31 December pays the tax for that year. You pay it the following year. So if you buy in March 2026, your first IMI bill arrives in 2027.

The rates

  • Urban property (homes, shops, building plots): 0.3% to 0.45% of the VPT. Each town hall sets its own rate within that band every year. The law allows up to 0.5% in some cases.
  • Rural land: 0.8% of the VPT.

Look up your municipality's rate on the Portal das Finanças page of municipal IMI rates. Town halls can also raise the rate on homes left empty for over a year or in ruins, and cut it for rented homes.

Example. A flat with a VPT of €150,000 in a municipality charging 0.35% pays €525 a year.

When you pay

Finanças sends the bill (nota de cobrança) by 30 April, by post or electronic notice. How you pay depends on the total:

Total IMI for the yearWhen you pay
Under €10Nothing is charged
€10 to €100One payment, by 31 May
Over €100, up to €500Two payments, by 31 May and 30 November
Over €500Three payments, by 31 May, 31 August, and 30 November

You can pay the whole amount in May if you prefer. If you miss one instalment, the rest become due at once, with interest.

If the bill does not arrive, do not wait. Check that your address is up to date, then print the bill from the Portal das Finanças or ask any tax office for a copy.

How to pay

You can pay IMI:

  • at a Multibanco cash machine, with the reference on the bill;
  • through your Portuguese bank's online banking;
  • in the Finanças payments app ("Situação Fiscal, Pagamentos");
  • at a tax office or a CTT post office;
  • by direct debit (débito direto), once you sign up on the Portal das Finanças.

Direct debit is useful if you spend part of the year abroad.

Exemptions and discounts

A new own home. If you buy a home to live in, it can be exempt from IMI for three years. All of these must be true:

  • The VPT is €125,000 or less.
  • Your household's gross taxable income in the year before was €153,300 or less.
  • You move in, with your tax address there, within six months.

The town hall can extend the exemption by two more years. For a purchase, Finanças grants it automatically. In other cases (for example, a home you built) you apply to the tax office within 60 days after that six months. You can get this exemption twice at most.

Low income. Your own home and any rural land are exempt from IMI if, in 2026:

  • your household's gross income for the year before is €17,295.59 or less, and
  • the total VPT of everything you own is €75,198.20 or less.

The exemption is automatic, but only if you filed your income tax and IMI returns on time. It does not apply to non-residents.

Families with children. Many town halls cut IMI on your own home for each dependant on your tax return: €30 for one, €70 for two, and €140 for three or more. It is automatic where your town hall applies it.

AIMI: the extra tax on high-value property

AIMI (adicional ao IMI) applies only if the total VPT of the homes and building plots you own in Portugal is over €600,000. Shops, offices, and industrial property do not count. Nor does property that was exempt from IMI the year before.

For individuals, the rates apply to the total VPT:

Total VPT (€)Rate
Up to 600,000Nothing (deduction)
600,000 to 1,000,0000.7%
1,000,000 to 2,000,0001%
Over 2,000,0001.5%

Couples. Married couples and couples in a de facto union can choose joint AIMI. The deduction doubles to €1,200,000 and the brackets double too. You opt in on the Portal das Finanças between 1 April and 31 May. The choice stays in place until you cancel it.

Companies pay 0.4% from the first euro, with no deduction. Companies in tax havens pay 7.5%.

Finanças assesses AIMI in June. You pay it in one go in September. It is a separate bill from IMI. If you let the property, you can deduct AIMI from the income tax due on that rent, within limits.

Taxes when you sell: capital gains

A gain on selling property in Portugal is taxed as part of your income (IRS). You declare it on your return the year after the sale, on the capital gains annex (Anexo G).

How the gain is worked out

Your gain is the sale price minus what you paid. You can add to the purchase price:

  • the IMT and stamp duty you paid when you bought;
  • the costs of buying and selling, such as the estate agent's fee and the energy certificate;
  • improvement works done in the last 12 years, with invoices.

If you owned the property for more than 24 months, the purchase price is also raised by an inflation coefficient that the government publishes every year. Keep every invoice and deed from the day you buy.

If you are tax resident in Portugal

Only 50% of the gain is taxed. It is added to your other income and taxed at the normal rates, from 12.5% to 48% in 2026.

Selling your own home and buying another. The gain is not taxed if all of these apply:

  • The home you sell was your own permanent home, with your tax address there, in the 12 months before the sale.
  • You reinvest the sale money (minus any mortgage you pay off) in another own home in Portugal, the EU, or the EEA.
  • You reinvest between 24 months before and 36 months after the sale.
  • You move into the new home within 12 months.
  • You state on your tax return for the year of sale that you intend to reinvest, and how much.

If you reinvest only part, only that share of the gain is exempt.

If you are retired or 65 or over. You can instead put the money from selling your own home into certain retirement products. These are a life insurance savings contract, an open pension fund, the public capitalisation scheme, or a Pan-European Personal Pension Product. You must do it within six months and declare it on your return. The product must pay you a regular income for at least ten years.

Reinvesting in affordable rental homes. For sales from 2026 to 2029, a gain on selling a home can also be exempt if you reinvest in Portuguese homes let at affordable rents. The conditions are strict: a lease within six months, at least 36 months let in the first five years, and no sale for five years.

If you are not tax resident in Portugal

Since 2023, non-residents are taxed like residents on property gains. Only 50% of the gain counts, at the normal progressive rates. To set your rate, Finanças looks at all your income, including income from abroad. So you will need to declare your worldwide income on the Portuguese return for that year.

A tax treaty with your home country may also apply. Treaties usually let Portugal tax gains on property here, and your home country gives relief. See Avoiding Double Taxation in Portugal.

If you own property from abroad

  • Keep your contact details current at Finanças. IMI and AIMI bills go to your tax address or electronic mailbox. A missed bill does not stop interest running.
  • Representative or electronic notifications. If you live outside the EU and EEA and own property here, you must either appoint a tax representative or switch on free electronic notifications on the Portal das Finanças. See Appointing a Fiscal Representative in Portugal.
  • Set up direct debit for IMI, so instalments are paid even when you are away.
  • Special tax regimes do not change property taxes. The old non-habitual resident regime (NHR) and its replacement, IFICI, do not reduce IMT, IMI, AIMI, or stamp duty. See Qualifying for the IFICI Tax Regime That Replaced NHR.

Common mistakes

Declaring the home as your own and then letting it. If you claimed the own-home IMT rates and let the property, or use it for holiday rentals, within six years, you owe the IMT difference.

Not changing your tax address. The own-home exemptions and reductions depend on your tax address being at the property. Update it at Finanças when you move in. See Changing Your Registered Address in Portugal.

Waiting for a bill that never comes. You owe IMI whether or not you receive the bill. Check the Portal das Finanças each April.

Forgetting to declare the reinvestment. The reinvestment exemption only works if you state your intention on the tax return for the year of sale.

Treating AIMI as part of IMI. AIMI is a separate bill, paid in September.

For the IMI steps in more detail, see Paying IMI Property Tax in Portugal.

This guide is general information, not tax advice. Tax rules change often; check the official source, or ask a certified accountant (contabilista certificado), before you act.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

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