The budget execution summary revealed on Tuesday, September 30, reported that the collected revenue from the Municipal Property Transfer Tax (IMT) amounted to 1.430 billion euros from January to August.
This cumulative revenue increased by 28.8% compared to the same period last year (from 1.110 billion euros), contributing significantly to the growth in fiscal revenue during the first eight months of the year.
The summary details that “the increase in fiscal revenue (9.1%) was primarily due to the execution of IRS (16.6%) and VAT (9%) and, to a lesser extent, the IMT (28.8%) and ISP (13.4%), offset by a decline in IRC (-8%).”
This improvement in IMT revenue is explained by the Ministry of Finance as a “reflection of the national real estate market dynamics, which saw an increase in both real estate transactions and their value.”
From July to August, revenue increased by over 200 million euros (reaching 200.77 million), marking the second month in 2025 to witness such substantial monthly growth (the increase from May to June was 231 million euros).
The trend observed until August of this year is opposite to what occurred in the previous two years of cumulative tax execution during the first months of the year.
In 2024, revenue fell by 2.9% from January to August, and in 2023, it decreased by 1.3%. However, in 2022, the cumulative value for the year’s first eight months was positive, with revenue growing by 38.3%. This trend repeated now but at a slower rate of 28.8%.
The IMT accounted for over half of municipal tax revenues by August. The local government obtained 2.7236 billion euros from the share of tax collection that, according to the law, constitutes their revenue (such as IMT, IMI, the Single Circulation Tax, and the municipal surcharge on IRC). With the growth in IMT revenues, this tax represented 52.5% of total collections by August.
At last week’s Council of Ministers meeting, where a package of housing measures was approved, one of the proposals to be submitted to parliament involves increasing the IMT for housing purchases by “non-resident citizens in Portugal, excluding emigrants,” according to the September 25 statement.
The IMT revenue belongs to the municipalities where the properties are located. Typically, the tax is applied to the sale value specified in the contract or, if higher, the property’s fiscal value.
For properties intended exclusively for own and permanent residence, IMT rates are progressive, varying according to the purchase amount (up to 7.5% for amounts exceeding 1,128,28 euros).
For “other urban buildings,” the IMT Code specifies a fixed rate of 6.5%, and for rural buildings, a rate of 5%.
