What you pay every year for owning a home
Owning a home in Portugal means paying IMI, condominium fees and insurance every year; for an individual, AIMI only starts above 600 000 € of taxable value. IMI is a municipal tax: a rate between 0,3 % and 0,45 % applied to the property's taxable value — not to the price you paid.
IMI: the municipal rate on the taxable value
Each municipality sets its rate for urban property within the 0,3 % to 0,45 % band (artigo 112.º do CIMI) and may vary it by parish. The rate applies to the taxable value (VPT) shown in the caderneta predial, which is almost always below market price. Your municipality's rate is on our IMI rates page, and the example below shows the calculation.
Each year's IMI is owed by whoever owned the home on 31 December of that year and is billed the year after: sell in spring and you still pay last year's. Up to 100 € it is paid once, in May; up to 500 €, in May and November; above that, in three instalments: May, August and November.
Exemption in the first years and a deduction for children
A home bought as your own permanent residence can be exempt from IMI for three years, extendable by two years where the municipal assembly approves it (artigo 46.º do Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais). The conditions: taxable value up to 125 000 €, household gross income in the previous year up to 153 300 €, and your tax address moved to the home within six months of the purchase. When you buy, the tax authority grants it automatically if your tax address changes in time; each household can only have it twice.
With dependants, the municipality may cut the IMI on your permanent home: 30 € with one, 70 € with two, 140 € with three or more. It only exists where the municipal assembly has approved it.
AIMI: only for large holdings
The IMI surcharge adds up the taxable value of all the residential property and building land one owner holds. An individual deducts 600 000 € and pays 0,7 % on the excess; once the total, counted before the deduction, passes 1 000 000 €, the marginal rate is 1 %, and above 2 000 000 € it is 1,5 %. A company gets no deduction and as a rule pays 0,4 %. One home of ordinary value never reaches it.
Condominium and insurance
In a building divided into units, the costs of the common parts are shared in proportion to each unit's permilage (artigo 1424.º do Código Civil). On top of the fee, every owner pays into the common reserve fund at least 10 % of their share of the other costs. The fee itself comes from no table: the owners' meeting approves it, and a building with a lift, garage and concierge costs far more than one without.
Fire insurance on the building is compulsory, for the units and the common parts alike (artigo 1429.º do Código Civil). Before buying, ask for the condominium budget and the latest minutes: they show what is paid and which works have already been approved. On a sale, the seller must produce the administrator's statement of the unit's charges and debts (artigo 1424.º-A do Código Civil).
Mortgage: stamp duty
A loan for five years or more pays stamp duty of 0,6 % on the amount borrowed, once, when it is granted. After that, the interest in every instalment carries stamp duty of 4 %. Look for both in the standard information sheet (FINE) the bank gives you before the contract.
Banks usually require life insurance and buildings insurance. Both are yearly costs, and prices vary a lot between insurers — compare before accepting the policy that comes with the loan.
An empty home or a let one
A home the municipality declares vacant for more than a year pays IMI at three times the rate (artigo 112.º do CIMI). In an urban-pressure zone the rate is multiplied by ten and rises a further 20 % each year, up to twenty times the normal rate (artigo 112.º-B do CIMI). A second home you actually use is not a vacant one, but water and electricity bills that show it help.
If you let it as a home at a monthly rent of up to 2,5 times the 2026 monthly minimum wage, the rent is taxed at 10 % until the end of 2029 (artigo 45.º-C do Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais). Above that limit the special rate is 25 % (artigo 72.º do Código do IRS), with reductions for long leases subject to conditions. Each lease also pays stamp duty of 10 % on one month's rent.
How much is IMI per year?
The municipal rate — between 0,3 % and 0,45 % — times the home's taxable value, not its price. Up to 100 € it is paid once, in May.
Do I pay IMI on a home I live in?
It can be exempt for three years if the taxable value is up to 125 000 € and household income up to 153 300 € (artigo 46.º do Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais).
Who pays AIMI?
An individual only pays once their residential property and building land add up to more than 600 000 € of taxable value. Below that, nothing.
How much tax is paid on rent?
10 % until the end of 2029 if the monthly rent is up to 2,5 times the 2026 monthly minimum wage (artigo 45.º-C do Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais); above that, 25 % (artigo 72.º do Código do IRS).
Is the condominium fee compulsory?
In a building divided into units, yes: the fee, a reserve fund of at least 10 % and fire insurance (artigo 1429.º do Código Civil).