IMI (municipal property tax)
Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis Municipal property tax IMI
IMI is Portugal's annual tax on the taxable value (VPT) of rural and urban property, and the revenue belongs to the municipality where the property is. It is owed by whoever owns the property on the last day of the year the tax relates to. Each municipal assembly sets its own rate for urban property every year, within the band the IMI Code allows.
In practice
A buyer starts paying IMI from the year after the purchase, and the bill turns on two things the buyer does not choose: the property's taxable value and the municipality's rate. Two identical flats in neighbouring municipalities can carry different bills for the rate alone.
Current rates for every municipality are on the flatin.pt IMI rates pages, each with the date it was checked. Owners with dependants may get a deduction where the municipality has adopted one, and owners whose taxable value jumped after a revaluation may be covered by the safeguard clause.