The cost of owning property in Portugal: IMI, condominium fees and insurance

Updated: 30 October 2026 · RE/MAX Extra

Once you have bought, an owner in Portugal still has yearly costs: IMI tax, condominium fees and insurance. Below we set out what those costs are made up of, how much IMI comes to in Lisbon, Cascais, Porto and the Algarve according to the tax authority's official table, when to pay it, who contributes to the condominium and what to check before you buy.

What an owner's costs are made up of

• IMI: the annual municipal property tax. All owners pay it, residents and non-residents alike.
• AIMI: a surcharge on IMI, only when the tax value of the housing held by one owner exceeds €600,000. There is more detail in Property taxes in Portugal.
• Condominium: your share of the building's common costs if you bought a flat, plus the compulsory reserve fund.
• Fire insurance: compulsory for buildings with a condominium, for both the flats and the common parts.
• Fiscal representative: for owners living outside the EU and EEA who have not signed up for electronic notifications from the tax authority.

Utilities (electricity, water, gas, internet) are paid under contracts with the suppliers and depend on consumption. We leave them out of this article.

IMI: how much and who pays

For urban property, the IMI rate is 0.3% to 0.45% of the property's tax value (VPT, valor patrimonial tributário) per year (Article 112 of the IMI Code). The tax value is an assessment made under the rules of the IMI Code, not the price you paid. The exact rate for each year is approved by the municipal assembly, which can also set separate rates for different freguesias (civil parishes). The municipality must send its decision to the tax authority by 31 December; if it misses the deadline, the minimum rate of 0.3% applies.

The tax is calculated per calendar year. It is paid by whoever is registered as owner in the tax register on 31 December of that year (Article 113). The tax authority assesses IMI from February to April of the following year. If you buy a flat in October 2026, the IMI for the whole of 2026 will come to you, not the seller, and you will pay it in 2027.

IMI rates for 2025 (tax paid in 2026)

These are the rates for urban property from the Taxas IMI por município table on the Portal das Finanças, the tax authority's website. Municipalities are still sending in their 2026 rates: as of 21 October 2026, the table had hardly any.

Lisbon and surrounding area

South bank of the Tagus (Setúbal district)

Porto and surrounding area

Algarve (Faro district)

Lagos (Algarve) and Gondomar (near Porto) have set rates by freguesia, which you can look up on the Portal das Finanças for the specific area. The highest rate in these tables is 0.45%, in Oeiras.

When to pay

The deadline depends on the amount of tax (Article 120 of the IMI Code):

If the tax is less than €10, it is not charged at all (Article 113). If you miss the deadline for one instalment, all the remaining ones fall due immediately.

Example: a tax value of €150,000

The calculation for a flat with a tax value of €150,000 at 2025 rates:

When IMI is higher

• If urban property stands empty for more than a year or is in ruins, the rate is tripled (Article 112, paragraph 3): in Lisbon that means 0.90% instead of 0.30%. For the property in the example, €1,350 a year.
• In urban pressure zones (zonas de pressão urbanística), the municipality can raise the rate by up to 25% for housing that is not let and is not the owner's permanent home, in other words a second home you only visit now and then, and by up to 100% for short-term lets (alojamento local) (paragraph 19). With a 25% increase, the Lisbon rate would be 0.375% and the IMI in the example €562.50.
• The municipality can raise the rate by up to 30% for run-down buildings that no longer serve their purpose or are a safety risk (paragraph 8).
• The 7.5% rate applies to property owned by companies registered in countries and territories with favourable tax regimes on the Ministry of Finance list, and to companies controlled by such structures. It does not apply to private individuals (paragraphs 4 and 17).

When IMI is lower or not due at all

• 3-year exemption (Article 46 of the Tax Benefits Statute, EBF): for housing bought as a permanent home, if the tax value is no more than €125,000 and the household's total income for the previous year is no more than €153,300. You must move your tax address to the property within 6 months of buying it. On purchase, the exemption is granted automatically. The municipality can extend it by another 2 years. You can get this relief no more than twice.
• Deduction for families with dependants (Article 112-A of the IMI Code), if approved by the municipality: €30 a year with one dependant, €70 with two, €140 with three or more. It applies to a permanent home where the family has its tax address.
• For rented housing, the municipality can reduce the rate by up to 20% in areas of its choosing (Article 112, paragraph 7).

The exemption and the family deduction are meant for people who live in Portugal and keep their tax address at the property; they do not work for a second home. There is a separate case for rented housing: a flat bought on first sale (new build or converted building) and let as the tenant's permanent home can also get the 3-year exemption, with the same limits, counted from the first tenancy agreement (Article 46 of the EBF, paragraph 3).

Condominium: fees and the reserve fund

In a building divided into flats (propriedade horizontal), the common parts such as the roof, façade, stairs and lifts are managed by the owners' meeting and the administrator. The cost of maintaining the common parts and common services is shared in proportion to the flat's share of the building's value (Article 1424 of the Civil Code). The share is stated in the document that divides the building, usually in parts per thousand (‰).

• Only the owners of flats served by the lift contribute to its costs.
• The cost of parts of the building used by one owner only, such as a terrace for their exclusive use, falls on that owner.
• The condominium rules can split some common services equally or by actual use, if this is approved by a majority of the owners who also hold a majority of the building's value, and nobody objects.

On top of regular fees, every condominium must keep a reserve fund for building repairs. Each owner pays in at least 10% of their share of the other costs (Article 4 of Decree-Law 268/94). The fund is held in a bank account and controlled by the owners' meeting.

A worked example: the building's annual budget is €24,000 and the flat's share is 40‰. Your part of the costs is €960 a year, plus at least €96 for the reserve fund, so from €1,056 in total. The budget and the minutes of the last meeting will show the real amount.

If you do not pay

The minutes of a meeting that approve the fees, with the amount and deadline for each owner, are a directly enforceable document (Article 6 of Decree-Law 268/94). The administrator must start court proceedings to recover the money within 90 days of the first missed payment, if the debt is at least equal to that year's IAS social support index and the meeting has not decided otherwise. Default interest at the statutory rate and fines can also be recovered, if approved by the meeting or set out in the condominium rules.

The seller's debts when you buy

Before selling a flat, the seller asks the administrator for a written statement: which fees apply, how much they are and when they are due, and whether there are any debts (Article 1424-A of the Civil Code). The administrator issues it within 10 days at most, and the statement is required to complete the sale. The buyer can waive it, but the contract must then state expressly that the buyer takes on any debts the seller owes the condominium. Fees that fall due after ownership passes are paid by the new owner. How the transaction itself works is explained in How to buy property in Portugal as a foreigner.

Insurance

For a building with a condominium, fire insurance is compulsory, for each flat and for the common parts (Article 1429 of the Civil Code). The owners take it out themselves. If an owner has not done so by the deadline and for the amount approved by the meeting, the administrator takes out the policy and then recovers the premium from that owner. The sum insured is updated every year (Article 5 of Decree-Law 268/94).

If you buy with a mortgage, the bank will ask for its own insurance policies, but it has to accept a policy from any insurer with equivalent cover. There is more in Mortgages in Portugal for non-residents.

If you let the property

By default, the costs of a rented flat fall on the landlord, unless the contract says otherwise and the law does not place them on the tenant (Article 1030 of the Civil Code). So IMI, condominium fees and insurance stay with the owner unless the tenancy agreement expressly says something different. The rules on tenancy agreements are in Renting a home in Portugal.

Fiscal representatives for non-residents

An owner who lives abroad must, as a general rule, appoint a fiscal representative with an address in Portugal (Article 19 of the General Tax Law, LGT). This is not required for residents of EU and EEA countries. Residents of other countries do not need a representative if they have signed up for electronic notifications from the tax authority, through the Portal das Finanças or the single digital address (morada única digital). A resident of a country outside the EU and EEA can only cancel these notifications after appointing a representative. Without a representative or electronic notifications, a non-resident cannot, for example, challenge a tax assessment.

For the NIF tax number and dealing with the tax authority, see our article on NIF and a bank account.

What to check before buying

• The property's tax value (VPT) and the municipality's IMI rate: these determine the tax for years to come.
• The administrator's statement on the fees and any debts on the flat.
• The condominium budget and the minutes of recent meetings: the level of fees, the reserve fund and any approved repairs.
• The building's fire insurance policy.
• If you live outside the EU and EEA, sign up for electronic notifications from the tax authority or appoint a representative.

Flats and houses for sale in the RE/MAX Extra catalogue: flats in Lisbon, in Cascais, in Oeiras, in Almada, in Porto, houses in Cascais.

This article is for information only and is not legal or tax advice. Rates and rules change — always check official sources and a professional before a transaction.