Stamp Duty
Taxable basis
Stamp duty is due on acts, contracts, documents, titles, books, papers and other facts foreseen in the General Table, which occur in Portugal and are not subject or exempt from VAT.
The abovementioned facts will also be subject to Stamp Duty if, although they occur outside the Portuguese territory, they are presented for legal purposes in Portugal.
| Tax basis | Rate (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Acquisition for consideration or donation of property | 0.8 | |
| Free acquisition of goods by individuals (Inheritance and gifts) | 10 | |
| Letting or sub letting (applied on the amount of a month of rent) | 10 | |
| Guarantees (except if ancillary and simultaneous to the contracts specified in the Table): | Period < one year – per month or fraction | 0.04 |
| Period ≥ one year | 0.5 | |
| Without limit or period ≥ five years | 0.6 | |
| Use of credit: | Period < one year – per month or fraction | 0.04 |
| Period ≥ one year | 0.5 | |
| Period ≥ five years | 0.6 | |
| Period not determined (e.g. current account) – per month by the monthly average of the debt | 0.04 | |
| Consumer’s credit (1): | Period < one year – per month or fraction | 0.07 |
| Period ≥ one year | 0.9 | |
| Period ≥ five years | 1 | |
| Period not determined (e.g. current account) – per month by the monthly average of the debt | 0.07 | |
| Operations of financial institutions: | Interest, including bills discount | 4 |
| Commission for given guarantees | 3 | |
| Other commission for financial services, including fees related to card-based payment operations | 4 | |
| Commission for insurance brokers | 2 | |
| Bills and Notes of hand (with a minimum value of € 1) | 0.5 | |
| Sale of business | 5 | |
| Bet on games not subject to the special taxation regime (“impostos especiais sobre o jogo”), namely games represented by tickets, bulletins, cards, matrix, raffles or tombolas – on the respective value | Mutual betting | 25 |
| Other bettings | 25 | |
| Bingo prizes (2) | 25 |
|
| Other prizes (Raffles, lottery, totoloto and other contests, excluding social games prizes foreseen in Section 11.3 of the Table attached to the Stamp Duty Code) (2) | 35 |
|
| Social State games– included in the bet price | 4.5 |
|
| Social State games - on the amount of the debt price that exceeds € 5.000 | 20 | |
| Net asset value of the collective investment vehicles: | Collective investment vehicles investing exclusively in money market instruments and deposits – assessed quarterly | 0.0025 |
| Other collective investment vehicles – assessed quarterly | 0.0125 | |
(1) Regarding taxable events which will occur until the 31st of December of 2018, the corresponding tax rates are increased in 50%.
(2) The rate is increased by 10% when the prize is paid in kind.
Some acts are exempt from Stamp Duty, namely as mentioned below; the exemption may depend on certain requirements:
- guarantees on stock exchange dealings regarding securities and derivatives;
- transactions between financial institutions;
- short term treasury needs (less than 1 year), granted by venture capital companies to companies in which they hold a participation, as well as granted by any company to companies dominated by them or with a shareholding with voting rights of at least 10%, or with a purchase price of at least € 5.000,000 as well as to financing between companies in a dominant or group relationship;
- short term shareholders’ loans (less than 1 year) in case of direct shareholding of 10% or more, held for 1 year or more;
- shareholders’ loans, including the respective interest, not reimbursed before 1 year, when provided by shareholders, of at least, 10% of the share capital and as long as the shareholding is maintained for a consecutive period of 1 year, or since the incorporation of the subsidiary, provided that, in this case, the participation has been maintained during that period;
- interest on loans for permanent housing;
- free transfer of property to spouse, or de facto spouse, descendants and ascendants;
- report agreements traded in an exchange stock;
- mergers or cooperation operations;
- warranties provided in favor of the State in the management of its direct public debt, and in favor of the Institute for the Management of Social Security Capitalization Funds, in its own name or on behalf of the funds under its management, for the exclusive purpose of covering its exposure to credit risk
- under the Investment Promotion Tax Regime (RFAI) companies are exempt from Stamp Duty on the acquisition of real estate property that constitute relevant investment, according to the terms of this regime.
- securities repos or similar rights exchanged in stock markets, as well as repo and fiduciary sales in guarantee, performed by financial institutions and intermediated by central counterparts, are also exempt from Stamp Duty.
Note:
There must be a reference to the legal provision that provides for the exemption from Stamp Duty on the relevant document.
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