The deadline for owners of local accommodations (AL) has been extended. The Government moved the date for submitting the proof of activity for AL to the 13th of December, 11.59PM.
The Ministry of Housing explains that the extension of the deadline is due to the “high influx registered in recent days” on the RNAL platform – National Register of Local Accommodation, which caused “some problems on access”. The Government had already admitted existing problems last Wednesday, with a source from the Ministry of Economy guaranteeing at the time that the portal “is not, nor has it ever been, down”.
The Local Accommodation Association in Portugal (ALEP) reported “technical problems” in the system for delivering proof of activity on Monday . According to the ALEP statement, when the owners tried to submit the documentation they were faced with an error message: “An error occurred in communication with the external entity. Please start a new process.” “This setback is putting compliance with the deadline at risk and could result in the automatic cancellation of licenses, directly causing problems concerning licenses of Local Accommodation owners”, highlighted, at the time, the association that represents the sector, referring to the established deadline December 7th.
ALEP also pointed out the “careless way in which this obligation was conceived”, considering that “it proves that the Mais Habitação para o Alojamento Local measures were carried out without knowledge of the reality of the sector and without dialogue, creating situations in which the continuity of many operators is put at risk unnecessarily.”
Law No. 56/2023, of October 6, approved measures in the field of housing, making several legislative changes. One of the articles of the diploma determines that, “within two months from the date of entry into force” of the law, “holders of local accommodation registration are obliged to provide proof, by presenting a contribution declaration, of maintaining the activity of operation, communicating exercise effectiveness on the RNAL platform – National Register of Local Accommodation, through the Balcão Único Eletrônico”.
‘Mais Habitação’ provides, among others, measures such as the forced leasing of houses that have been vacant for more than two years, exemption from taxation on capital gains for owners who sell houses to the State, the end of new ‘gold’ visas, tax exemptions for owners who remove their houses from local accommodation by the end of 2024, an extraordinary contribution in AL and the suspension of the registration of new local accommodation outside low-density territories (located mainly in the interior).