The measure will cost approximately 558 million euros, with 43 of the 200 municipalities fully returning the IRS paid by taxpayers to the City Hall in Lisbon, Funchal, and Loulé.

96 municipalities will not return the taxes to the citizens; thus, the taxpayers will keep paying the IRS to the City Hall, in municipalities including Bragança, Gondomar, Leiria and Guimarães. Nevertheless, the number of residents paying IRS in their respective residence areas is lower than the previous year, when 112 municipalities wanted to keep receiving the taxes.

13 municipalities, including Arouca, Avis, Azambuja, Barreiro, Borba, Lajes do Pico, Moita, Ribeira de Pena, Silves, Viana do Castelo, Vila do Conde, Vila Nova de Paiva, and Vila Verde, did not report their IRS participation rate to the Ministry of Finance.

Full returns and reductions on IRS

Lisbon municipality will refund the whole 5% of taxes paid by its residents, in a measure that will cost 86 million euros. Other city halls, such as Funchal, Arganil and Lagos will also fully return the taxes to residents.

On the other hand, Porto reduced the taxes residents will have to pay, from 3,5% to 3%. Sintra, for instance, will receive 4% from the residents, returning 1% of what is being paid. In Amadora, residents will pay 0.3% less taxes than in 2024, with an allocation of 3,5%.

Coimbra, Fundão, Leira, Seixal and Guimarães will not return anything to their residents, like 94 other municipalities. 249, out of 308 did not make any changes to their IRS policies.

How does this happen?

The municipal benefit is automatically applied to citizens the moment they present the IRS declaration to the Tax Authority (AT).

When the taxes are declared, the refund will come automatically, depending on the area of residence, and in case of submitting the data on the established deadlines. The calculation will be done by AT, and, if applicable, the refund will be made.

Author

Deeply in love with music and with a guilty pleasure in criminal cases, Bruno G. Santos decided to study Journalism and Communication, hoping to combine both passions into writing. The journalist is also a passionate traveller who likes to write about other cultures and discover the various hidden gems from Portugal and the world. Press card: 8463. 

Bruno G. Santos