Tax authorities publish coefficients on last day.
The coefficients needed to calculate the extraordinary levy on the Accommodation Local sector were published in Diário da República on the last working day of the year, allowing owners to pay the new tax in 2024.
This Friday, December 29, the Ministry of Finance published in the Diário da República an ordinance with the coefficients needed to calculate the new tax on local accommodation, created as part of the ‘Mais Habitação’ package. Without this data, it was not possible to calculate the tax to be paid, which will apply, by law, to AL units registered on December 31st. The decree was only published in the evening, on the last working day of the year, but still in time to allow the contribution to be levied in 2024.
The law that created the extraordinary contribution on apartments and lodging establishments integrated into an autonomous fraction of a local accommodation building (CEAL) was published on October 6 and came into force the very next day. It gave the Ministry of Finance 60 days to publish, by means of an ordinance, the economic coefficient for local accommodation and the urban pressure coefficient applicable to 2023, but this did not happen.
The government fell in the meantime and went into administration on December 8, but this would not prevent the publication of the coefficients, not least because it was already provided for by law, so there is nothing to prevent it from being carried out by an executive with limited powers.
The fact that the coefficients were published after the deadline will not prevent them from being applied, since “this lack of publication of the ordinance does not affect the validity of the law”, Filipe Vasconcelos Fernandes, a specialist in this type of tax, explained to Negócios. However, if publication had only taken place in 2024, then there would be “a risk that this contribution could not be levied for 2023, due to the absence of all the application assumptions for the year in question”.
The ordinance now known establishes the coefficients to be applied to each of the country’s municipalities and which, according to the size of the LA, will determine the amount to be paid by the owners. The sector already estimated values of between 19 and 35 euros per square meter and those who are active on December 31, 2023 will have to make the first payment by June 20, 2024, with payment by the 25th of the same month. The obligation falls on whoever operates the rental property, even if they are not the property owner (they will be subsidiarily liable).
The ordinance also stipulates that the list of LAs covered must be communicated to the AT by Turismo de Portugal, and must also include information on their registration on the land registry.
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