IMI collection already started

If you have a rustic or urban property, it means that the month of May corresponds to the beginning of the payment of the Municipal Property Tax (“Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis”, IMI). The payment period began on the 1st of May and continues until the end of the month.

You can pay the IMI in up to three instalments that are automatically split by the Tax Authority (“Autoridade Tributária”, AT). However, this only happens if the value of the tax is over 500 euros, and the monthly instalments have to be paid in May, August and November. If the value of your tax is less than 500 euros, but more than 100 euros, then the IMI can only be paid twice: once in May and once in November. If the value is up to 100 euros, then you have to pay the tax until 31 May. In any case, you can pay the IMI all at once during the month of May.

How is my tax calculated?

The IMI is levied on the so-called Patrimonial Taxable Value (“Valor Patrimonial Tributário”, VPT), the fiscal value of the property, which is defined by several parameters, and can be quickly calculated through the Finance Portal. The SUPERCASA portal adds that IMI is collected by the AT, but reverts to the municipalities where the properties are located, being a tax that is applied to any type of building in the national territory.

To calculate the IMI that you will pay, it is simple: just multiply the VPT of the property by the rate set by the municipality in the previous year to which you are paying (example: in 2023, you should check the rate set in 2022). However, some municipalities apply deductions per household if there are dependent children. You can consult all rates per municipality on the Finance Portal.

Let us take the example of an urban property in Barcelos, whose VPT is 100 000 euros and the IMI will be charged to a family household with two children. Given that the Minho council applies a tax of 0.3300% to urban properties and also has a fixed deduction per household of 40 euros when there are two dependents, the final value would be

€100 000 x 0.3300% = €340
€340 – €40 = €300 euros

IMI rates are set annually by local councils, and are communicated to the AT by the end of December. Currently, they can vary between 0.3% and 0.45% for urban properties and up to 0.8% for rural properties.

How can I pay this tax?

To settle this tax, the easiest way is through the Finance Portal, setting up direct debit or generating an ATM reference that you can use to pay through your bank’s website or at an ATM. However, you can wait for the postal communication and make the payment at the CTT counters or at the tax office collection sections.