Who pays? How is it calculated? Everything you need to know about IMI

Os owners have to pay the last instalment this month ed Municipal Property Tax (IMI), “an annual tax on the Tax Value (TPV) of real estate located in Portugal”, explains the Tax and Customs Authority (TPA) in a shared publication on social network Facebook.

On this path, AT released four questions and answers that help to better understand how this tax works. Be aware: 

1. Who pays? “Who owns the property on 31 December of the year to which the tax is subject”; 
2. How is it calculated? “The amount to be paid is due to the multiplication of the Tax Value (TPV) of the property by the IMI rate defined annually by the municipality where it is located. VPT × IMI rate = Value to be paid”;
3. What is PTSD? “ It is the value assigned to the property for tax purposes, calculated based on several factors, such as area, location, age and construction quality. You can see the VPT in the building book, available on the Finance Portal.
4. What are the payment deadlines? “Up to €100: single payment in May. Between €100 and €500: payment in 2 instalments in May and November. Over 500 €: payment in 3 instalments in May, August and November”.

Are you paying too much IMI?

DECO PROTeste warned that some owners may be paying more IMI than they should, when the property's equity value does not reflect the evolution of certain factors used in the tax calculation.

“ The value of the IMI is calculated based on the tax assets value (VPT) of the property, but varies from municipality to municipality. However, some of the elements used in this calculation are not automatically updated by the Tax Authority, which means that the tax collected may still be higher than would result from a new assessment,” the company explains in a statement.

The vetustez coefficient, associated with the age of the property, and which suffers several changes over time, is one of the examples, underlines.

Thus, “the property tax value, which is the basis for the calculation of the IMI, does not always reflect the evolution of factors such as the age of the property or the location coefficient”, says DECO PROTESTE Editors, a company based on quotas that has as partners the Luxembourg company Euroconsumers and the Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection – Deco.

The company states that “the only way to understand if there is a margin for tax reduction is to make a simulation”.

In the statement, the company states that an online IMI simulator developed by it, released on a platform called “Simple Taxes”, allows “identifying possible savings opportunities”, which can “check whether they are paying the fair value of IMI and identify opportunities to save already in 2027”.

The company states that, through this free simulator, owners “can verify that any re-evaluation of the property can result in a reduction in the amount to be paid”.