Renting out your property in Portugal in 2026: tax, contract and landlord duties

A landlord in Portugal has four main duties: register the lease with the tax office, pay stamp duty, issue electronic rent receipts and declare the rent in the annual income tax return. Getting these right from the start avoids fines, protects you if the tenant stops paying and lets you use the lower tax rates, which in 2026 can save thousands of euros a year.

Summary of duties

Duty	What it is	Deadline
Register the lease	Stamp Duty Form 2 on the tax portal, with the signed lease attached	By the end of the month after the lease starts
Stamp duty	10% of one month’s rent, paid by the landlord	Same deadline as registration
Rent receipts	Electronic receipt for each payment, including the deposit and advance rent	With each payment
Income tax	Rent declared as category F income	Annual tax return
Changes and termination	Report to the tax office	By the end of the following month

Income tax on rent

Rent is taxed on net income: rent received minus deductible expenses.

Situation	Rate
Residential rent, standard	25%
Lease exclusively for housing, rent up to €2,300 a month (rent received 2026 to 2029)	10%
Permanent housing, lease of 5 to 10 years	15%
Permanent housing, lease of 10 to 20 years	10%
Permanent housing, lease of 20 years or more	5%
Shops, offices and other non-residential property	28%

The 10% rate was created by Decree-Law 97/2026, which added it to the Tax Benefits Statute (article 45-C). It covers rent received from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2029, on new or existing leases, with no minimum term, as long as the monthly rent does not exceed €2,300 (2.5 times the 2026 minimum wage, a limit that can be updated by ministerial order). Everything the tenant pays for using the home counts towards that limit, including furniture and equipment attached to the property and services, even if they are covered by separate contracts. If the lease qualifies for an even lower rate, such as 5% for 20 years or more, the lower rate applies.

The reductions for long leases apply only to permanent housing and are lost back to the start of the lease if it ends early for a reason attributable to the landlord. For leases signed from 1 January 2024, they also do not apply if the rent exceeds the general rent limits for the municipality by more than 50%. Tax residents can choose instead to add the rent to their other income and pay at their marginal rate.

Example: a home let at €1,500 a month brings in €18,000 a year. With €1,200 of deductible expenses (property tax, building charges and insurance), net income is €16,800. As the rent is below €2,300, the 10% rate applies: €1,680 of tax. At the standard 25% it would be €4,200.

Deductible expenses

• Municipal property tax (IMI) on the let property
• Stamp duty on the lease
• Building (condominium) charges and other costs an owner must pay by law
• Property insurance, including rent guarantee insurance
• Maintenance and repair work, including work in the 24 months before the lease starts, if the property was not used for anything else in that period

Not deductible from rent: furniture, appliances, comfort or decoration items, financing costs such as mortgage interest, and the additional property tax (AIMI), which can instead be credited against your income tax within limits. Keep the receipts.

Registering the lease and stamp duty

The lease is registered on the Portuguese tax portal (Portal das Finanças) with Stamp Duty Form 2, attaching the signed lease and the tax numbers (NIF) of everyone involved, by the end of the month after the lease starts. Stamp duty of 10% of one month’s rent is paid within the same deadline. For a €1,500 rent, that is €150. If the rent changes over the lease, the highest rent counts; a rent increase pays 10% of the increase.

If the landlord does not register the lease, the tenant can do it on the tax portal, but the stamp duty is still the landlord’s to pay. Rent is always taxable. Without a registered lease and paid stamp duty, the landlord risks fines and may lose access to the fast-track eviction procedure.

Electronic rent receipts

Each rent payment needs an electronic receipt issued on the tax portal, even when the money is received as a deposit or advance. Exempt are landlords aged 65 or over on 31 December of the previous year, rural leases, and landlords who have no electronic tax mailbox, are not required to have one and received rent of no more than twice the IAS index in the previous year. Exempt landlords who do not issue receipts file Form 44 by the end of February of the following year.

Deposit and advance rent

The deposit secures the tenant’s obligations, including damage to the property, and cannot exceed two months’ rent. Advance rent must be agreed in writing and is also capped at two months. At the start you can receive the first month’s rent, up to two months in advance and a deposit of up to two months. At the end, the deposit is returned, or the amount needed for repairs is kept, based on the condition recorded at check-in.

Lease term and renewal

A fixed-term lease for permanent housing lasts between 1 and 30 years. The 1-year minimum does not apply to leases for non-permanent housing or temporary purposes, such as study or work. At the end of the term the lease renews automatically for the same period, or for 3 years if the initial term was shorter, unless the lease says otherwise or one party gives notice.

Who	How	Notice
Landlord	Notice not to renew, lease of 6 years or more	240 days
Landlord	Notice not to renew, lease of 1 to 6 years	120 days
Tenant	Early termination after one third of the term	120 days (60 if the lease is under 1 year)

The landlord’s notice not to renew the first time takes effect only three years after the lease was signed, unless the landlord or their children need the home.

If the tenant stops paying

With three or more months of rent in arrears, the landlord can terminate the lease. The quickest route is the fast-track eviction procedure at the Tenant and Landlord Office (Balcão do Arrendatário e do Senhorio, BAS), which replaced the former National Lease Office (BNA). It is only available if the stamp duty on the lease has been assessed or the rent has been declared for income tax. Rent guarantee insurance, which is deductible, covers part of this risk.

On 30 September 2026, Parliament approved in first reading a government bill to reform the lease rules, which would, among other changes, allow eviction after two months of unpaid rent. It is not yet in force: until the new law is published, the rules in this guide apply.

Rent increases

If the lease sets no other rule, rent can be updated once a year by the official coefficient, from one year after the lease starts. For 2027 it is 1.0256, up to 2.56%: a €1,500 rent can rise to €1,538.40. The tenant must be told in writing at least 30 days in advance, with the coefficient and the new rent.

Landlords living abroad

The tax rates are the same: 25%, or 10% with rent up to €2,300. Adding rent to other income is only for tax residents. If you live outside the EU and the EEA, you need a fiscal representative in Portugal, unless you sign up for the tax office’s electronic notifications. A management company can handle the day-to-day and the paperwork and send you reports.

A selling point for tenants

In 2026 tenants can deduct up to €900 of rent paid from their income tax, rising to €1,000 from 2027. A registered lease with electronic receipts gives them that deduction, which makes your home more attractive than an informal let.

How we help

Our rental management service takes care of all of this: tenant, lease, tax registration, receipts, the annual rent update, the building and repairs, with reports in English for owners abroad. We review the tax regime for each lease with your accountant. The fee is 8% of the rent actually collected, with a minimum of €110 plus VAT. This guide is general information: always confirm your case with an accountant.