Property tax to fall for 1/4 of the population
Almost one in five local authorities or 194 councils will reduce their property tax in 2024 according to Jornal de Negócios.
In practice, it means that more councils will opt to make a minimum charge of just 0.3% on the value of properties through the Municipal Tax on Properties (Imposto sobre Imóveis)(IMI) with just seven councils choosing to raise it.
This is according to tax rates released by council executives to the Portuguese tax authorities (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira (AT)) and calculations made by the business daily. Some 25.4% of the population will enjoy a reduction in property tax.
The largest council in the land, Lisbon Municipal Council, has chosen to keep the lowest tax on property of 0.3%, joining another 194 councils up and down the country that have also chosen to do so.
IMI tax is a tax charged by local councils whose revenues go into local authority coffers to cover municipal expenses for everything from street lighting to rubbish collection.
The tax varies from 0.3% at the lowest end to 0.45% at the higher end. Each year the councils have up until December 31 to inform the Portuguese tax authorities of any increases or decreases they are making for the following year.