Portugal Property Taxes and Fees Explained: IMT, IMI, AIMI and Stamp Duty (2026)

What is IMT and how is it calculated?

IMT (Imposto Municipal sobre as Transmissões Onerosas de Imóveis) is the property transfer tax, the largest single tax a buyer pays and the one due before the deed. Since 25 May 2026, how it is calculated depends on whether you are a tax resident. Under Decreto-Lei n.º 97/2026, implementing Lei n.º 9-A/2026 (the Build Portugal housing package), a non-resident buying urban residential property pays a flat 7.5% IMT with no bands and no deduction, so a €500,000 home carries €37,500 and a €650,000 home carries €48,750. This is the default for most foreign buyers.

A resident keeps the progressive scale: a marginal rate per band minus a fixed deduction, so you do not pay the top rate on the whole price. A primary and permanent residence has an exempt first band up to roughly €106,346, while a secondary home is taxed from the first euro and flattens to 6% above €633,931, which is why a €650,000 secondary home on that scale carries about €39,000 and a €500,000 one about €27,299. The 2026 brackets were uplifted about 2% under the State Budget.

A non-resident is not locked into the flat rate. You can apply the progressive rates, or claim a refund of the difference, in three cases: you are already a Portuguese tax resident on the acquisition date, you become one within two years of the purchase, or you commit the home to a moderate-rent residential lease and keep it leased for at least 36 months within the first five years. Confirm the live position on the Portal das Finanças, run the figure on the IMT calculator, and check your own case with a Portuguese lawyer or accountant, because the refund mechanics matter.

What is Imposto do Selo (stamp duty)?

Imposto do Selo is the stamp duty on a property acquisition, a flat 0.8% of the price, fixed by law and paid at the deed. There is no schedule and no deduction: it is simply the price multiplied by 0.8%. On a €500,000 home the stamp duty is €4,000; on a €650,000 home it is €5,200. It is the simplest tax to budget for, because nothing about it changes with the region, the buyer or the type of home.

What is IMI and how much will I pay each year?

IMI (Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis) is the annual municipal property tax, the recurring cost of ownership rather than a closing cost. Each municipality sets its own rate within a national band, roughly 0.3% to 0.45%, applied not to the price you paid but to the valor patrimonial tributário (VPT), the taxable value the tax authority assigns to the property. The VPT is usually below the market price, so the bill is lower than applying the rate to the purchase price would suggest. On a mid-priced home the steady annual IMI commonly lands around €1,500. Your exact figure depends on the VPT and the municipal rate. Our Foreign Buyer Cost Index models a more conservative first-year placeholder at about 0.1% of the price for budgeting, because a newly assessed VPT and the exact municipal rate are not known until after purchase; the ongoing yearly bill on the assessed VPT is the roughly €1,500 figure used here.

What is AIMI and does it apply to me?

AIMI (Adicional ao Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis) is the wealth surcharge that sits on top of IMI. It applies only to the share of your total Portuguese property VPT above €600,000 per owner, or €1.2 million for a couple who file jointly. The rate is 0.7% on value above the threshold, rising to 1% above €1 million and 1.5% above €2 million of taxable value. Because the threshold is on taxable value, not market price, and because it is per owner, most single buyers of a mid-priced home pay zero AIMI. It becomes relevant for higher-value purchases or for an owner who holds several Portuguese properties.

Do foreigners pay higher property taxes than locals?

On IMT, since 25 May 2026, often yes, though the trigger is tax residency, not nationality. Stamp duty, IMI and AIMI carry no nationality-based or residency-based rate, so on those a foreign buyer pays exactly what a local pays. IMT is now the exception: a non-resident pays the flat 7.5% rate under Decreto-Lei n.º 97/2026, while a resident keeps the progressive scale, which is usually lower. Because most foreign buyers are non-residents, they generally pay more IMT than a local buying the same home. A non-resident can still reach the progressive rates, or claim a refund of the difference, by being or becoming a Portuguese tax resident within two years, or by leasing the home at moderate rent for 36 months within the first five years. A separate point worth knowing: the Golden Visa real-estate route was abolished in October 2023 under Lei 56/2023, so buying property is no longer a path to that visa.

How do the four taxes fit together?

IMT and stamp duty are one-off taxes paid at purchase; IMI is paid every year you own the property; AIMI is an annual surcharge only the higher-value owners meet. On the €500,000 Algarve example above, for a non-resident that is €37,500 IMT (the flat 7.5% rate) and €4,000 stamp duty at the deed, roughly €1,500 IMI each year after, and €0 AIMI; a resident would pay about €27,299 IMT instead. To see how these taxes sit inside the wider purchase, including notary, lawyer and the currency-exchange spread, read the full cost breakdown, check the regional numbers in the Foreign Buyer Cost Index, or model your own purchase end to end with the cost-to-keys tool. Portugal Property Invest is an independent advisory and referrer: we connect foreign buyers to licensed Portuguese lawyers and accountants, and we do not provide tax or legal advice or hold an AMI agency licence ourselves. For the exact figures on your property, speak to a Portuguese lawyer or accountant. You can see how we work on the methodology page or start with the two-minute assessment.

Sources

• Decreto-Lei n.º 97/2026, of 20 May 2026, and Lei n.º 9-A/2026, of 6 March 2026 (Build Portugal housing package), flat 7.5% IMT for non-resident buyers of residential property, in force 25 May 2026, with carve-outs for tax residents and 36-month moderate-rent leases.
• Autoridade Tributária / Portal das Finanças, Código do IMT 2026 progressive schedule (resident case), IMI and AIMI rules. portaldasfinancas.gov.pt
• Código do Imposto do Selo, verba 1.1, 0.8% on property acquisition.
• Portugal Property Invest, Portugal Foreign Buyer Cost Index 2026, the IMT and stamp-duty figures used in the worked examples. The Cost Index models a conservative first-year IMI proxy for budgeting; the ongoing annual IMI shown here is the steady bill on the assessed VPT. cost index.
• Lei 56/2023 (Mais Habitação), October 2023 abolition of the Golden Visa real-estate route.

Full provenance is on the methodology page. Fixed statutory items (the IMT schedule, the 0.8% stamp duty, the AIMI thresholds) are exact; IMI, AIMI bills and professional fees are market-range estimates that depend on the VPT and the municipality, and are marked as modeled in the Cost Index CSV.