The Land Registry has a record of property ownership, with a complete description of each property on a material, economic and fiscal level, being able any citizen to require information regarding an enrolled building in the Registry.
Thus, to analyse the “history” of the property, it is necessary to require the emission, through proper model, of a document certificate of the full record of the title and dealings regarding the property.
In the Finance Bureau, in turn, the properties are enrolled in accordance with a number. These numbers, assignment of articles, are called "matriciais ".
Trough the Finances Bureaus is possible to know about the fiscal situation of a house and to know who is entity responsible for the fiscal obligations related to the property.
The document that demonstrated the fiscal situation of the property is named "Caderneta Predial". We can have two types of Cadernetas Prediais:
- Urban Caderneta Predial;
- Rustic Caderneta Predial;
Registration of a sale follows the signing of the Escritura Pública (title deed), which must be done in front of a notary.
The notary acts as a neutral public officer, charges a scale fee and is responsible for confirming and recording in the Escritura Pública that correct payment has been made.
Before this stage you will normally be asked to sign a promissory contract and pay a deposit - you may forfeit the deposit if you withdraw - if the vendor withdraws he may have to compensate you. You will normally make staged payments if you are buying a property in construction.
The notary does not act in the interest of you or the vendor; he is there simply to ensure that the legal process is correct.
Tax Information for Portuguese Property Owners
1. Municipal Property Tax (IMI)
The new tax on property is regulated by Decree-Law no. 287/2003, of 12 November, substituting the older Contribuição Autárquica. This is an annual municipal property tax calculated upon the patrimonial tributary value of rural and urban properties situated in the Portuguese territory.
The Municipal Property Tax rates are as follows:
Rural Properties ............................................................................0, 8%
Urban Properties appraised under the old rules: ..........................0, 4% to 0, 8%
Urban Properties appraised under the new IMI rules.....................0, 2% to 0, 5%
Tax resident in an offshore owning a building in Portugal........ 1 % / 2%
It is the responsibility of the municipality to define each year the applicable rate, such decision from the Municipal Board being communicated to the Directorate General for Taxation by 31st December of the year concerned.
Immovable property is classified as rural, urban and mixed.
The following types of property are considered as rural:
Property connected with, or merely having as its normal purpose, any use giving rise to agricultural income;
Property which, although used for other purposes, is not built-in or has only buildings or construction of an accessory nature, without an economic autonomy and of a limited value;
Property located within an urban centre that cannot be used for profitable purposes, or can only be used for agricultural purposes and is effectively used for such purpose;
Buildings and constructions directly used for the production of agricultural income, if located in land as above referred to;
Waters and plantations in the above mentioned situations.
There shall be classified as urban property, properties that are not classified as rural. Urban property can be divided into:
Housing, commercial, industrial buildings or building
