Once you’ve decided where you want to buy property in Portugal and how much you can expect to pay based on average house prices there, you’ll also want to know about the price of upkeep and maintenance. It’s important to know what other expenses you’ll have to pay on your new Portuguese home after the initial purchase is made (apart from the obvious ones like water, gas and electricity bills).
Property tax
- IMI Municipal Property Tax (Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis): This is a tax on homeowners in Portugal, but you don’t have to pay if it’s your main residence or if you rent it out on a long-term or permanent basis of at least 10 years. If you have to pay, you’ll receive a letter from the tax authority between January and April, as the tax is to be paid in two parts in in April and September. If you don’t get anything, you may want to ask the tax office. It is calculated based on the value of the property, taking into account the market value, the location and the type of property. There are three categories:
- Urban buildings (prédios urbanos): 0.7% - 1.3% of the fiscal value for town- or city-based homes.
- Country buildings (prédios rusticos): 0.8% of the fiscal value for buildings in agricultural use or unbuilt land in the outskirts of cities.
- Mixed buildings (prédios mistos): When used as a mixture of both these uses, it’s tax category falls in the middle.
Other expenses
- Home insurance: Just as with any other house, it’s a good idea to have home and contents insurance on your Portuguese property. In Portugal, the standard rate charged by insurance providers is from 180 to 380 euro a year, but that obviously varies with property type, location and value.
- Home administrator: If all this red tape seems like too much work for you, especially in Portuguese, another option is to just hire a property manager to do the paperwork and organise the payments for you. These kind of services cost about 100 to 150 euro per year, and allow you to sit back and relax in your home in the sun and not worry about the running costs!
Brits remain interested in living in Portugal
The change to tax and residence rules for foreigners has not diminished British people's interest in moving to Portugal, said the director of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom, Christina Hippisley.
Getting a mortgage in Portugal as a foreigner
Portugal, with its pleasant climate and affordable cost of living, continues to be a desirable destination for expats and retirees. This guide offers crucial information for foreigners wishing to obtain a mortgage in Portugal and everything you need to know about getting a mortgage in Portugal as a foreigner.
IMI Portugal 2024: price per square metre remains at 665 euros in 2024
What is IMI tax in Portugal? IMI stands for "Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis", which translates to Municipal Property Tax in English. It is a property tax levied on real estate properties in Portugal. IMI is imposed annually on the rateable value of properties and is collected by local municipalities. The tax rate can vary depending on factors such as the property's location, type, and value. When it comes to IMI in Portugal in 2024, the price of a square metre (m2) for the purposes of calculat
Mortgage interest rates in Portugal higher than the Eurozone since October
In Portugal, average interest rates on new home loans have been stabilising at 4.2% since June. And in the euro area, average interest rates continue to rise, having reached 4% in November for the first time since 2009. But even so, Portuguese banks are charging more interest on home loans than the Eurozone average, a trend that has been visible since October last year, as revealed by the most recent data from the Bank of Portugal (BdP).
Tax exemptions attract foreigners - and the Portuguese emigrate...
The tax exemptions granted to foreign citizens who come to live, invest or work in Portugal have made many people choose the country to live in. The other side of the coin is the flight of residents, particularly young people, who pack their bags for other destinations in search of better living and working conditions and/or salaries. A scenario that seems to have gained momentum with the increasing tendency for Portugal to be one of the places of choice for local nomads.
Social Security's new digital counter: find out how to get in touch
The new digital counter is designed to improve contact with Social Security and allows citizens and companies to interact interactively with Social Security. It is a service that is always available and can be accessed from a computer, tablet or smartphone.
Banks banned from charging early repayment fees until 2024
The government has decided to extend, until 31 December 2024, "the temporary suspension of the early repayment fee for variable-rate housing loan contracts or those that, having been contracted at a mixed interest rate, are in a variable-rate period or which, having been contracted at a mixed interest rate, are in a variable rate period," reads the statement from the Council of Ministers this Thursday (September 21, 2023), which took place at the Environmental Interpretation Centre in Leiria.