The Portuguese Tax Authority (Autoridade Tributária or AT) closed 2018 with a cash inflow of 31.5 million euro from revenue from the Municipal Property Tax (Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis or IMI) paid on dilapidated, vacant or ruined property. As a whole, the municipalities in Portugal have tripled the rate of IMI on a total 22,358 buildings.
According to financial data cited by the Correio da Manhã newspaper, 32 municipalities in Portugal increased the tax due on property in ruins and 22 tripled the amount to be charged on vacant buildings. When all is said and done, the authorities taxed 7,800 vacant buildings for 23.1 million euro last year, while earning about 6 million from 12,241 degraded buildings and 2.4 million from ruins.
In 2016, new complexities entered the fray for the application of this tax, when the State Budget determined that telecommunications, gas, water and electricity companies would be obliged to supply information on the houses where there were no supply contracts before 1st October of each year.
The sending of data by these energy companies is essential for the local municipalities to prepare the list of buildings that are vacant or in ruins, which must be sent to the Tax Authorities by 30th November of each year, along with the IMI rate to be applied that year.
From the original Portuguese article: Casas vazias rendem 31,5 milhões de euros em 2018 (Correio da Manhã)
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