The president of Portugal’s Association of Real Estate Developers and Investors (APPII) has warned that the government’s decision to put up property transfer taxes for non-residents could send out a message that foreign direct investment is not welcome.
Hugo Santos Ferreira told Jornal Económico: “If we penalise foreigners who purchase houses, by making them more expensive, naturally there will be foreigners who will go back on their decision.”
The increase in the Municipal Tax on Onerous Transfers of Real Estate (IMT) for the purchase of housing by citizens not resident in Portugal has gone down like a lead balloon with the real estate sector, which fears a setback in foreign investment in the country and is calling on the government to reverse its decision.
“My suggestion, as president of the Real Estate Developers and Investors Association, is to eliminate this measure because it will have a negative impact on the country’s credibility internationally. I am afraid that this message will be understood by foreigners that they are not welcome in Portugal. It was a measure that could have been avoided,” Hugo Santos Ferreira told JE.
Moreover, Hugo Santos Ferreira believes that this increase in IMT will have only a small impact (on public coffers) and that this decision contradicts the government’s message about the need to attract foreign investors to Portugal.
“It seems to me a measure a little at odds with what the government itself understands. Portugal needs foreign investment like we need bread, to boost the economy, create jobs and create opportunities in housing as well,” he said.
The Portuguese Association of Resorts and Residential Tourism (APR) has also called on the government to rethink the measure, asking for it to exclude the increased IMT tax for tourism resorts and developments in low-density areas of Portugal.
Source: Essential Business
