Property Rates / Tax

Scorpion · Post by **Scorpion** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 12:33 pm

The more I read the more i'm confused - I speak about the annual municipal property tax/rates payable on property in portugal.

I have seen this described as "IMI - Imposto Municipal sobre Imoveis" and "Contribuicao Autarquica" - are these the same thing or 2 different taxes?

Again I've read that this charge is based on the value of the property which may be/will be restated when the property changes hands.

I've just bought a 2 bed apartment in Albufeira for E215,000. The real estate agent told me that the annual property tax on it was circa E300. Does this sound right? What sort of figure are others paying on a similar property?

Anyone able to help demystify this for me?

thanks Mike

bazza · Post by **bazza** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 11:30 am

As no one replied to you yet here goes my experience. IMI and C/Autarquica are one and the same. The property will be revalued as a transaction has taken place. It is done without a visit to the property ie what is on record at the finances will be used to value it for the new valor patrimonial (rateable value). It took from my purchase date of December 2003 until until November 2005 to get the new IMI demand and they back dated it to 2003 and asked for the monies owing to be paid along with the IMI for 2005 which was due in May 2006. Just for your interest my VP came out to 200,000Euro and the new IMI to 488Euro this is under Silves Camara. However your estimate of 300Euro could be correct as there are a lot of things taken into account to come to the new IMI.Hope this helps.

Scorpion · Post by **Scorpion** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 12:30 pm

Thanks Bazza - just what I needed - regards Mike

Scorpion · Post by **Scorpion** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:50 pm

Just received our revised property valuation - unusually efficient given that we only completed on the purchase in Sept.

Hope someone can help me with the terminology. The Vt (valor patrimonial tributario) is 115,060 - is this the new taxable value? How can I find out how much the IMI will be (the property is in Albufeira)?

Also both myself and my wife received a valuation letter - is IMI paid on the property or on the owners - ie do we pay twice because the apartment is in both our names?

thanks

bazza · Post by **bazza** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 3:29 pm

Hi Scorpion the apartment is obviously in both names so you will get a bill each, whatever is on each bill is half of the total bill. So you will just add them together to get the total. You state the VP is 115 060 yes this is the new rateable value but if this figure is on both demands it will mean the total is double. On 115 060 i would guess the new amount payable to be 260 to 300 per year ( all figures in euros ). Again hope this helps.

Scorpion · Post by **Scorpion** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 7:09 pm

Thanks Bazza.

Guess I'll just have to wait for the IMI demand before I know how much we'll have to pay.

Mike

bazza · Post by **bazza** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 7:48 pm

Also as you bought in September if your solicitor did not get money held back for rates from the previous owners you will be liable for the whole of 2005 as you were the owners on the deed at December 2005 which is the critical date

biffa · Post by **biffa** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 6:07 pm

Scorpion - as a non resident your fiscal representative (you should have one) can look on the tax web site and establish what your tax value (VT) is and thus what your IMI will be.

If your current VT is 115,000 FOLLOWING revaluaton you will pay a maximum of 0,5% of that per year. If the 115,000 is the rate BEFORE revaluation and is still valid as you never got revalued in 2006 then you will pay a maximum of 0.8% (in fact I think Albufeira charge 0,7% as each council decides their own rate)

Bazza is right in that the tax office can (and do!) backdate the rate payable to the date of transfer.

Scorpion · Post by **Scorpion** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:03 pm

Thanks for all your helpful comments. My fiscal rep has confirmed that the total VT is 230,000 (and is split between myself and my wife as joint owners).

Is it usual for the VT to be broadly in line with the market value at the time it is assessed? We paid 215,000 for the place but knew it was below market due to the decorating and other work required on it.

biffa · Post by **biffa** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 1:10 pm

Yes it IS very unusual for the tax value to be equal to or more than the market value! If you paid 215k and the tax value is 230k either you got a very good deal or the tax value is wrong and should have been appealed against.

Location however is a big factor in arriving at final value so a shack by the sea may be higher than a palace in the hills (well sort of and I am not saying you have a shack!!)

As an indication tax values are somehwere around 60 to 80% of market value.

Scorpion · Post by **Scorpion** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 1:58 pm

Thanks again - this is so much fun! I have found a website that helps you calculate your expected VT.

http://www.e-financas.gov.pt/SIGIMI/default.jsp

I have found my Rua in Albufeira and it comes up with a standard per square metre charge of E165 and the apartment is 135 square m. After that it's all down to various co-efficient ratios so i'll need to find out if they are reasonable.

Scorpion · Post by **Scorpion** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 5:53 pm

For those still remotely interested:

My Fiscal Rep has told me that the IMI rates will be 0.47% on 230,120 = 1,081 pa (after first telling me it was 0.7% = 1,600 pa!).

The previous VT was 73,600 - which sounds right cos i was told they were paying cE300 (at 73,600 @ 0.47% = 345). What I can't believe is that the VTcan have gone up from 73,600 to 230,120 - especially as it is not calculated on the specific property value but on a local rate per square metre (E615) with a standard co-efficient for that location (1.9) and some adjustments for "quality & comfort" - none of which apply to our property and for its age (it is not anywhere near new).

I can't help thinking that the VT is 115,060 and that the fiscal agent is mistaken in saying that becuase both my wife and I received a notice of the VT it is double that amount.

As ever your collective thoughts would be welcomed. Mike

Scorpion · Post by **Scorpion** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 6:39 pm

Finally resolved. Fiscal Agent has confirmed that the VT is 115,060 , tax rate will be 0.47% and the IMI will be 540.78 for the year. Bit different from their first guess of 1,600 !

Mike,Chislehurst · Post by **Mike,Chislehurst** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 7:12 pm

Good result but anyone looking at this website thinking of buying a property must think it's a minefield. It is. Well done and well sorted.

Scorpion · Post by **Scorpion** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 12:55 pm

Thought you might like an update. Just received the IMI demand for 2006 from my fiscal agent. It is based on the old Vt, charged at 0.07% and comes to 380Euros for the year, apparently payable in one go rather than 2 installments. No doubt they will eventually catch up with the reval but presumably that will be in 2008.