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What are the annual cost for real estate taxes in Portugal?

AskCategory: LisbonWhat are the annual cost for real estate taxes in Portugal?
Antonio Evans Staff asked 5 years ago
I am now a local in Lisbon and looking to possibly buy an apartment near by me in Alcantara.    I believe I have the complete downpayment in my portuguese bank account but I am a bit hesitant.   My concern is that when I fully move my funds I will find out that I don't have enough money to do the annual payments.  It's planning on being my first home but probably will convert over to a second home since I want to live by the beach but have a place in the city.   The purchase price range I am looking at is 200,000 to 350,000 Euros.    I've used Idealista's search but I cannot figure out how much am I expected to shell out.   Have your found out the current 2020 rates?
1 Answers
Antonio Evans Staff answered 5 years ago

Hey Chang,

Congrads on your decision to move to Portugal. You're taking the right steps into buying a place here in Lisbon. Since the economic crisis and the recent Covid-19 tragedy we are really dealing with a fluxuating market. As more housing stocks are brought into the market, prices have dropped countrywide. This is definitly and unprecidented event creating opportunities everywhere. Everything will return to a semi-normal over the course of the years but Portugal still is still a unique place that is very friendly to expats.

Now to answer your question. The current IMI (Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis) rates are .3 %to .8% which ranges. When they factor the tax they look at a few things such as if it will be your first or second home, your age, the location and also the size/type of home. They plug it into their chart and send your a bill.

So a "rough back of the envelop" calculation on the purcahse of a 200,000 Euro home would be 1,600 at the high end. I do everything in my head as a monthly payment. So somewhere around 133 euro a month. So for every 100k of the value of the house you would pay 800 max a year.

Not bad compared to New Jersey's pricing. I think last time I checked it was 2.44% or 2400 a year.

Another thing to consider is that it's the book value of the house. That gets set when you purchase it. It may or may not be the amount you initially paid. All depends on that particular house and it's history.

I hope this helps and again congrats on your potential purchase.