Average construction value per square meter rises by 20 euros in 2022, which will lead to an increase in IMI in the order of 4% for newly built or rehabilitated houses.
Municipal Property Tax (IMI) will get more expensive in 2022 for newly built or rehabilitated homes. After three years without moving, the rate should increase by around 4% for these cases, and all because of the recent escalation in construction costs, which led the Government to update one of the coefficients that serve as the basis for calculating the tax. .
Since 2019, the value of IMI has not undergone major changes, but from 2022 the scenario will be different. According to the decree published on December 20, 2021, the Government decided to increase the average value of construction per square meter (m2) from 492 to 512 euros in 2022. This is an increase of 20 euros compared to the value in force since 2019, which in turn had been increased from €482.4 to €492.
According to Ordinance No. 310/2021 signed by the Assistant Secretary of State for Tax Affairs, António Mendonça Mendes:
“The average value of construction per square meter is set at 512 euros, for the purposes of article 39 of the Municipal Property Tax Code, in force in the year 2022”. This cost applies “to all urban buildings whose model 1 declarations, referred to in articles 13 and 37 of the Municipal Property Tax Code, are delivered from January 1, 2022”
In other words, this increase applies to all properties that are subject to revaluation or rehabilitation or newly built.
The average value of construction per m2 serves as a basis for calculating the patrimonial value of properties (VPT), which in turn is used to calculate the Municipal Property Tax (IMI), which should become more expensive next year for newly built houses. -built or rehabilitated. The value of the VPT can be consulted in the property's Caderneta Predial.
Based on this value, the base value is determined for the purposes of evaluating the buildings, which in 2022 will be 640 euros (512+25%). As explained in the IMI Code, in article 39:
“The base value of the buildings (Vc) corresponds to the average value of construction, per m2, plus the value of the square meter of the implantation land fixed at 25% of that value”.
“The average construction value is determined taking into account, in particular, the direct and indirect costs incurred in the construction of the building, such as those relating to materials, labour, equipment, administration, energy, communications and other consumables”, he also clarifies. the document.
But this increase is not for everyone. The decree limits the scope of its application “to all urban buildings whose model 1 declarations, referred to in articles 13 and 37 of the Municipal Property Tax Code, are delivered from January 1, 2022 ”, that is, properties that are undergoing revaluation or rehabilitation or newly built.
In response to ECO, an official source from the Ministry of Finance stated that:
"Some real estate indicators and Bank of Portugal projections were taken into account, namely those pointing to a 4.8% rise in the economy in 2021 and a 2.2% growth in civil construction. .6% of the Housing Price Index and the 6.8% increase in the New Housing Construction Cost Index also weighed.
“The significant and unprecedented increase in the cost of raw materials, such as steel, copper, aluminum, wood and petroleum products, due to the scarcity of raw materials and the difficulties evidenced in the supply chains” and also the “rising of energy and fuel prices” were factors that contributed to the decision to increase the average construction cost, adds the same source.