According to the Financial Yearbook of Portuguese Municipalities, in 2023 municipalities collected 3.97 billion euros in direct taxes, 43% from IMT, 38% from Municipal Property Tax (IMI), 8% from (Single Circulation Tax) IUC and 11% of surcharge.

For the second consecutive year, in 2023 the amount charged from IMT exceeded IMI, although with an increase of just 1% (representing around 18 million euros more), after increases of 38% and 26% recorded in 2021 and 2022 , demonstrating the weight that real estate has on municipal revenues.

Between 2013 and 2023, the collection of these revenues (fees and fines) increased by 190.0% (+342.5 million euros), with the highest value being recorded last year.

Tourist tax

That year, 15 municipalities (four more than the previous year) charged a tourist tax totalling 70.2 million euros (+26.3% or +14.6 million euros than in 2022), which had a large relevance for the city halls that applied it.

“Analysing the impact of this fee, we found that in these 15 municipalities, this value represents an average of around 31% of total fees and 2.7% of total revenue”, indicates the Yearbook.

The tourist tax had a large impact on the overall value of taxes, fines and other penalties charged in some of these municipalities, namely in Santa Cruz (42.2%), Óbidos (54.0%), Lisbon (42.8%), Porto (39.8%), Faro (33.7%), Vila Real de Santo António (24.5%) and Vila Nova de Gaia (24%).

Lisbon was the municipality that collected the most revenue from municipal tourist taxes, earning around 40 million euros, followed by Porto with around 18 million euros.

In the current year, the number of municipalities charging tourist tax grew: By the end of August 2024, there were already at least 26 municipalities charging fees for overnight stays in tourist accommodation, according to a balance made by the Lusa agency, but the number has increased since then with the adoption measure by other municipalities, such as Loulé (since November 1st), Funchal (since October 1st), Setúbal (since September 1st) and Caminha (since September 5th).