# IMI when buying a house



## jimclarck (Mar 5, 2020)

Hi All,

I am told that when you buy a house in Portugal you, as the buyer, have to pay the IMI at the end of the year, for the entire year even If you buy it late in the year like Oct-Nov time.

Is it not common to share proportionally with the seller for the time each of us owned the house for that year?

Thanks!


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## Nuno MC (Jun 7, 2021)

Hi Jim, it doesn't work like that.

Any person who owns a property is required to pay IMI (Real estate municipal tax)

According to the IMI code, it is considered an owner who owns the property or land on December 31 of the year to which the tax refers. (Code Municipal Tax on Real Estate Article 8 nº1)

For example, someone who sells their home on December 1st automatically ceases to be responsible for that year's tax, passing that tax liability on to the new owner.

Hope this helps, bye
Nuno Morais Cardoso www.nmcteam.pt


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## Strontium (Sep 16, 2015)

Keep things simple and if it concerns you then just get your lawyer to include it in the legally binding "Promissory" contract which both vendor and purchaser sign/agree such as
" vendor responsible for paying relevant Article XXXX and YYY IMI for the period up to and including such and such date". 
Or not.


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## vianina (Feb 25, 2020)

Strontium said:


> Keep things simple and if it concerns you then just get your lawyer to include it in the legally binding "Promissory" contract which both vendor and purchaser sign/agree such as
> " vendor responsible for paying relevant Article XXXX and YYY IMI for the period up to and including such and such date".
> Or not.


Better to agree to deduct an equivalent sum from the property price with the knock-on effect of slightly reducing the purchase tax too. In any case the Finanças will send the IMI bill to the purchaser.


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## TonyJ1 (May 20, 2014)

vianina said:


> Better to agree to deduct an equivalent sum from the property price with the knock-on effect of slightly reducing the purchase tax too. In any case the Finanças will send the IMI bill to the purchaser.


The seller is responsible for the annual property tax iro of the previous year. The annual property tax bill gets raised to the owner as at 31 December of the previous year.


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## vianina (Feb 25, 2020)

TonyJ1 said:


> The seller is responsible for the annual property tax iro of the previous year. The annual property tax bill gets raised to the owner as at 31 December of the previous year.


My point exactly...


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