In short: the tax authority has clarified how the single 7.5% property transfer tax rate applies to home purchases by non-residents. The decisive criterion is the buyer’s marital status. For a couple married under a community property regime there is a single taxable event, and it suffices that one spouse has been tax resident in Portugal to displace the rate. Anyone who has already paid the 7.5% and then returns, or lets at a moderate rent, has six months to react by administrative complaint.
The rule and the three exceptions
Article 17(10) of the Property Transfer Tax Code, inserted by article 6 of Decree-Law no. 97/2026 of 20 May, creates a single rate of 7.5% on the acquisition of urban property or a unit intended exclusively for housing by non-residents, with no exemption or reduction. Three situations escape the rate: the acquirer having already been treated as tax resident in Portugal under article 16 of the Personal Income Tax Code; becoming resident within two years of the acquisition; or letting the property for residential purposes at a moderate rent, concluding the contract within six months and maintaining it for a minimum of thirty-six months in the first five years.
A sole buyer
Where there is a single acquirer — unmarried, divorced, widowed, or married under a separation of property regime — the rule is direct: the 7.5% rate applies if the buyer is non-resident. If the buyer has at some point been treated as tax resident in Portugal, the general rates in article 17(1) apply. The assessment is individual and does not depend on anyone else.
Co-ownership: as many taxable events as co-owners
Where the property is acquired in co-ownership, there are as many taxable events as there are co-owners, and the conditions are assessed separately for each. One buyer may be subject to the 7.5% and another to the general rates, depending on their respective residence history. This has a practical consequence worth anticipating: the allocation of shares between a resident and a non-resident co-owner alters the tax due, and should be considered before the deed rather than after.
Married in community of property: a single taxable event
This is the most important point. Where the acquirers are married under a community property regime, there is a single taxable event and a single assessment, with joint and several liability, under article 4 of the Property Transfer Tax Code and articles 21(1) and 22(3) of the General Tax Law. The 7.5% rate applies only if both spouses are non-resident and neither has ever been resident. It therefore suffices that one of the two has been tax resident in Portugal to displace the higher rate and bring in the general rates. For many emigrant couples in which only one member lived here, the difference is substantial.
How to recover what was overpaid
Article 17(11) provides that the tax authority shall annul, on application by the interested party, the difference between the tax paid and what would result from the general rates. The application follows the route of an administrative complaint, within the six-month period set in paragraph 12. For the purposes of article 70(4) of the Code of Tax Procedure, the establishment of residence in Portugal or the date of conclusion of the moderate-rent tenancy count as supervening facts. The period therefore runs from the fact that satisfies the exception, not from the deed.
What to do before the deed, and after it
Before: if either acquirer has already been tax resident in Portugal, gather the documentary proof of that residence and produce it to the notary and on assessment, rather than invoking it later. That is how to pay the correct tax once, without having to claim a refund. After: if you paid at the 7.5% rate and have since established residence in Portugal, or concluded a moderate-rent tenancy within the six months, file the administrative complaint within the period — once it lapses, the refund is lost. Put the date in the diary on the very day the fact occurs. Circular no. 40131/2026 of 4 September 2026, Portuguese Tax and Customs Authority.
This note is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For an analysis of your specific case, please contact us.