Portugal to increase tax on house purchases by foreigners
Montenegro described the package presented as a ‘shock policy’. ‘We want to shake up the construction and rental market and do so within the term of our legislature.’
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced on Thursday an increase in property transfer tax (IMT) for non-residents purchasing property in Portugal. The measure excludes emigrants and is part of a package to solve Portugal’s housing problems, which the head of the Executive described as a ‘shock policy’.
The increase excludes Portuguese citizens abroad and ‘properties placed on the rental market that are currently in force,’ explained the head of government at a press conference after the Council of Ministers meeting.
‘It is a shock policy. We want to shake up the construction and rental market and do so within the term of our legislature,’ said the Prime Minister.
‘These fiscal measures therefore aim to make an increased, ambitious, I would even say bold effort to give our society, developers and builders on the one hand, and citizens on the other, greater confidence, greater predictability, and greater ability to solve what is a constraint on people’s quality of life and also on the competitiveness of our economy,’ he concluded.
Luís Montenegro also assured that the Executive is ‘acting with financial responsibility, without jeopardising the balance and health of public finances,’ preserving the goal for the country to continue to have budget surpluses in the coming years.