The Government intends for Portuguese families to be able to benefit, without time limits, from the IRS exemption on capital gains obtained from the sale of their home, when these are used to acquire a new property for their own permanent home. Currently, taxpayers can only benefit from this exemption once every three years.

This change is included in the proposal submitted by the Government to Parliament, regarding the housing sector, according to Jornal de Negócios.

The law is expected to take effect from December 31, 2023, which means that it is expected to apply to cases that already occurred at the end of last year. According to the same newspaper, this implies that there may be cases that already influence this year's IRS, with regard to 2023 income, creating the possibility of it being necessary to submit replacement declarations.

Generally speaking, it is expected that, once the Government's proposal is approved, families will be able to change their home as often as they wish, always benefiting from the IRS exemption on the capital gains obtained, when these are used to buy another.

Luís Montenegro's Executive therefore seeks to revoke some restrictions imposed on the reinvestment of real estate capital gains, within the scope of the Mais Habitação program. The Council of Ministers approved the initiative on May 27th and the document has already reached Parliament.

It is also intended that the minimum period of holding property to benefit from the IRS exemption on capital gains decrease from 24 to 12 months. This can only happen, remember, in cases relating to permanent housing.

The proposal - which was presented as a request for legislative authorisation - will, however, first have to go through parliament, with strong opposition expected from the Socialist Party (PS), as it plans to revoke measures approved by the socialists in the previous Executive.