The Government approved a legislative proposal in parliament to make the declaration of the payment method for the sale of houses mandatory, in the respective deed document.
For this, it will be mandatory that the deed document contains the payment method used to pay for the property (mentioning the bank account numbers / checks), and these data will have to be verified and certified by the respective notary.
This proposal, which has just been submitted to the assembly of the republic, will be debated in parliament and subject to a subsequent vote.
According to the Jornal de Negócios:
"This tax affects, in addition to notaries and conservators, real estate agents, who are asked for the same information regarding the transactions in which they participate, including in this case also the lease contracts with a value greater than 2500 euros per month".
This legislation aims, on the one hand, to make fictitious real estate transactions more difficult and, on the other hand, to transpose European rules on the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism. This measure comes at a time when the Portuguese real estate market is experiencing strong growth dynamics, thus aiming to prevent and combat money laundering operations.