Key figures — as of 2026-10-16: Flat 7.5% IMT on residential purchases by non-residents, in force since 25 May 2026 under Decree-Law 97/2026 — clarified by Ofício Circulado 40131/2026, issued 4 September 2026 — exemption applies when a spouse under comunhão de bens is a tax resident, or when a buyer was ever previously a Portuguese tax resident — buyers can reclaim the overpayment if they become resident within two years of the purchase.
The circular that narrows a blunt tax
Portugal's tax authority has spent four months watching lawyers and conveyancers ask the same question: does the new 7.5% flat-rate IMT really hit every non-resident buyer, no exceptions? On 4 September, the Autoridade Tributária answered with Ofício Circulado n.º 40131/2026, an interpretive circular that softens some of the harder edges of Decree-Law 97/2026 — the law that introduced a flat 7.5% rate for non-resident buyers of residential property in Portugal, effective since 25 May.
The headline rule hasn't changed: a non-resident buying a home pays 7.5% from the first euro, with none of the progressive bands, allowances or first-time-buyer discounts available to residents. What the circular does is tell notaries and Finanças staff exactly who counts as "non-resident" for this purpose — and the answer turns out to be less binary than the law's text suggested.
Who actually qualifies for the general rates
The clarification centres on two scenarios GrowIN sees constantly among clients. First: couples married under comunhão de bens (community property). The AT confirmed that the surcharge applies only when both spouses are non-resident and neither has, at any prior point, been considered resident in Portuguese territory. In plain terms, if one spouse kept their Portuguese tax residency while the other lived abroad, the couple can buy under the normal progressive IMT scale — even though one half of the household is, on paper, a non-resident.
Second: individual buyers, including those divorced, widowed, single, or married under separation of assets. The general rule is that a non-resident at the time of purchase pays 7.5% — but if the buyer was previously considered a Portuguese tax resident under Article 16 of the IRS Code, the general IMT rates apply instead. Residency history, not just residency on the day of the deed, now determines the bill. A returning emigrant who lived in Lisbon a decade ago and is buying back into the market today should not automatically assume the surcharge applies.
Co-ownership between unmarried buyers, or spouses under separation of assets, is assessed person by person: when the property is bought in co-ownership — by unmarried people or couples married under separation of assets — the rate is determined individually, according to each buyer's tax situation.
GrowIN's math: what the exception is actually worth
Idealista's own worked example shows the stakes: on a €500,000 house, the flat 7.5% rate produces an IMT bill of €37,000, against €25,000–€30,000 under the regular rates. Taking the midpoint of that regular-rate range (€27,500), GrowIN calculates the gap at roughly €9,500 — meaning a buyer who qualifies for one of the September exceptions is avoiding a tax bill around 34% higher than what a resident-equivalent buyer would pay on the same property. For a mixed-residency couple structuring their purchase correctly, that's not a rounding error — it's often the difference between affording the deposit and not.
"A single sentence in a tax circular can be worth €9,500 at the notary's table — residency history now matters as much as residency status," says GrowIN Portugal Editorial.
The two-year reclaim window
The law also builds in a retroactive fix. If a non-resident buyer pays the 7.5% upfront but becomes a resident of Portugal within two years of the purchase, they can apply to Finanças for a refund of the difference between what they paid and what the normal progressive rates would have produced. The same logic extends to the married-couple scenario: if one spouse takes up Portuguese residency within two years of the purchase, the couple can request annulment of the excess IMT paid. This isn't automatic — it requires an active request to the tax authority, with proof of the change in residency status, and should be tracked carefully given how AT processing timelines can run.
Why this matters now
The flat rate has already reshaped buying patterns. INE data cited by idealista show non-residents bought just 1,170 homes in the first quarter of 2026, down 15.6% year-on-year and representing only 4.7% of total transactions, while mortgage lending to non-resident buyers fell 7% between the first and second quarters of 2026, the period when the 7.5% rate took full effect. The September circular won't reverse that trend, but it gives genuine relief to a specific slice of buyers: mixed-nationality families, returning Portuguese emigrants, and former residents re-entering the market.
What to watch next
Expect conveyancers and notaries to start requesting proof of prior tax residency — NIF history, old IRS filings, Finanças registration dates — as standard due diligence before applying either rate at the deed. Buyers who think they might qualify for an exception should get their residency history confirmed with Finanças before the escritura, not after; retroactive refund claims are possible but add paperwork and waiting time that upfront planning avoids. Anyone navigating a cross-border purchase should check current thresholds directly via the Portal das Finanças, and read our broader guide at tax & NIF before signing a promissory contract. For buyers wanting a residency and tax-status check before they commit to a property, GrowIN's services team reviews exactly this kind of edge case daily.
This is a technical clarification with real money attached — worth a conversation with a professional before, not after, you sign.