“Mais Habitação” approved!

⚠ 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞: ⚠
The Mais Habitação programme launched by the Portuguese government, was approved in the final vote in Parliament on July 19th 2023.

The President of the Republic has now 20 days to decide to do one of 3 things:
➡ Approve the law;
➡ Veto it, in which case the law is sent back to Parliament for full justification or changes;
➡ Send it to the Constitutional Court, which can veto the law if considered unconstitutional.

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐀𝐋 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓:
➡ suspension of new AL registrations in the Apartamento and Estabelecimento de Hospedagem categories when implemented in a horizontal property (condominium building), except in low-density areas defined in the Annex of this ordinance: Portaria n.º 208/2017 de 13 de julho;

➡ new AL registrations in condominium buildings require unanimous approval of the condominium or that the habitation license already allows for the AL;

➡ existing ALs in condominium buildings can be closed with a 2/3rds majority vote of the condominium;

➡ existing ALs are not transferable, in case the ownership of the property in a condominium belongs to a company, it’s not allowed to transfer any share capital of the company unless in case of inheritance, without losing the AL license;

➡ existing AL registrations become temporary and must be renewed every 5 years starting in 2030.

➡ existing AL registrations need to demonstrate, within 2 months after the start of the new law, they are active, by showing tax evidence of the activity;

➡ if owners of properties with an AL registration from before 31st December 2022 cancel the AL before the end of 2024, and put the property on the long-term rental market, they will be exempt from tax on such rentals (IRS in the case of individuals, IRC for companies) until the end of 2029;

➡ the new CEAL tax was approved, and this will be taxed at 15%. The CEAL will be published each year and it’s an additional coefficient and applies only to autonomous residential units (not detached houses in the Moradia category or complete buildings). It also doesn’t apply to AL in the permanent residence of the owner, if not active for more than 120 days per year. This means that a property that was not rented may still have to pay 15% of the CEAL as it is not related to the rental income.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆-𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐒:
➡ The standard rate is now 25% instead of 28%. Al the other rates for longer periods of the contract were also adjusted.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐘:
➡ Reinvestment of the sale of the property deemed for main residency is valid if the taxpayer has lived in the property (address at the tax office/NIF) in the previous 24 months prior to the sale;

➡ Reinvestment is not allowed if, in the previous 3 tax years, the taxpayer already benefited from this tax exemption/deduction. The taxpayer can still benefit from the reinvestment if he can prove that the previous sale was due to exceptional conditions.