Taxes on buying
What you pay in order to buy, and on what basis: transfer tax, stamp duty, the return that assesses them and the cost of the deed.
IMT (property transfer tax)
The tax paid on purchase, charged on the higher of price and tax value, using progressive tables.
Six tables in 2026: mainland and islands, each for a primary home, the under-35 exemption and other housing. Flat rates: 5% rural, 6.5% commercial, 7.5% non-residents on housing (since 25 May 2026), 10% blacklisted-jurisdiction entities.
Paid before or on the day of the deed; the assessment lapses if unpaid within 30 days. Full exemption up to €106,346 on a mainland primary home.
IMT Jovem (under-35 exemption)
No transfer tax, stamp duty or registration fees up to €330,539 on a first primary home, up to age 35.
Created by Decree-Law 48-A/2024 (registration fees by Decree-Law 48-D/2024). Between €330,539 and €660,982 the exemption is partial. Above that there is no benefit.
Conditions: 35 or under at the deed, first primary home, not a tax dependant, and not owning, or having owned in the previous three years, a home or a share of one, inherited ones included. Couples are assessed individually.
Imposto do Selo (stamp duty)
Five separate charges in property: 0.8% on purchase, 0.6% on the mortgage, 4% on bank fees, 4% on interest of non-primary-home loans, and 10% of one month's rent on leases.
Most calculators implement only the first. The one almost everyone misses is the fourth: 4% on interest, every year, on any loan that isn't for the home you live in. An investment mortgage is not a primary-home loan.
The lease charge is paid by the landlord on signing and on each rent increase, and is tax-deductible.
Modelo 1 do IMT (transfer tax return)
The return filed to assess transfer tax before the deed. The payment reference comes out of it.
Filed on Portal das Finanças or at a tax office, identifying the property, the buyer and the price. The assessment and payment reference follow from it.
Getting the stated purpose wrong (primary home or not) changes the applicable table and therefore the tax. Correcting it afterwards means filing again.
Emolumentos (registry and notary fees)
The fees for registry and notarial acts. Through Casa Pronta, one fixed price covers the deed and the registration.
Land registry fees are set by tariff. The Casa Pronta service bundles deed, registration and, where there is a mortgage, the charge, for a single price.
They are a fixed cost, not proportional to the price, so they weigh far more on a cheap property than on an expensive one.
Deed costs
Everything paid on completion day beyond the taxes: deed, registration and, with a mortgage, valuation and bank fees.
Through Casa Pronta, the deed and the registration of the purchase come to a few hundred euros; a mortgage adds the registration of the charge.
From the bank: the valuation, arrangement and formalisation fees, and 4% stamp duty on those fees.
The other groups
General information based on current legislation. Not tax or legal advice.