Buying Property in Portugal as a Foreigner: What Is Different
Portugal does not ask where you were born. It asks where you pay tax.
Buying property in Portugal is open to anyone, of any nationality, and the legal steps are the same for everyone: tax number, promissory contract, deed. What changes for a buyer who lives abroad is everything around those steps. Since May 2026, tax residence, not the passport, decides the rate of transfer tax. Banks lend within different limits. The money has to arrive with a paper trail, and the deed can be signed by someone else on your behalf. This guide covers what is specific to the foreign buyer. For the sequence itself, see our guide to buying property in Portugal, step by step.
Residence, not nationality
Portuguese law makes no distinction between nationals and foreigners when it comes to owning property. A British, American or French buyer holds exactly the same title as a Portuguese one. The distinction that matters is tax residence, as defined in the Personal Income Tax Code: broadly, more than 183 days in Portugal in a twelve-month period, or a home here kept as a habitual residence. A Portuguese citizen living in London is a non-resident. A German who has settled in Lisbon is not.
Owning a house does not make you resident either. Since October 2023, buying property no longer leads to a Golden Visa, and a purchase gives no right to live in Portugal. Residence comes through its own visas and permits: see our guides to living in Portugal and to the Golden Visa and IFICI in 2026.
The tax number and the fiscal representative
Every buyer needs a NIF, the Portuguese tax number, before signing the promissory contract. A non-resident can obtain it at a tax office or through a lawyer acting as representative. The real question is whether a fiscal representative must stay in place afterwards. Under article 19 of the General Tax Law, people resident abroad must in principle appoint a representative who lives in Portugal. For residents of another EU or EEA state, the appointment is optional. Residents of the rest of the world, the United Kingdom and the United States included, can avoid it by signing up to the Tax Authority's electronic notifications, a route opened in 2022.
Either way, someone must read the mail. Property tax bills, notices and deadlines go to the tax address on file, and an unread letter is a missed deadline.
Money: the account, the transfer, the paper trail
A Portuguese bank account is not a legal requirement, but in practice it makes the deposit, the taxes and the utility bills simpler, and it is needed for a Portuguese mortgage. Banks will ask for the NIF, a passport, proof of address abroad and evidence of income.
Portugal's anti-money laundering law (Lei 83/2017) places notaries, lawyers, solicitors and estate agents under a duty to identify the buyer and to understand where the money comes from. Expect to document the origin of the funds, whether a sale, savings or a loan. Since 2017 the deed itself records how the price was paid: the accounts of payer and payee for a transfer, the number and bank for a cheque. Cash is effectively out of the question. Payments of €3,000 or more in cash are prohibited, a limit raised to €10,000 for non-resident individuals who are not acting in business.
A mortgage from abroad
Portuguese banks lend to non-residents, within the same macroprudential framework as everyone else. The Banco de Portugal revised its recommendation for loans signed from 1 August 2026. A loan can reach 90% of the property's value for a permanent home and 80% for any other purpose, which is where a second home bought from abroad usually falls. Repayments should not exceed 45% of net income, and the maximum term is 40 years for borrowers aged up to 35, and 35 years above that. Each bank applies its own criteria within these limits and may lend less.
The bank will value the property, will usually ask for life and home insurance, and the loan pays stamp duty of 0.6% when its term is five years or more. Obtain an approval in principle before the promissory contract, and write a financing condition into it if the purchase depends on the loan: see the CPCV explained.
The passport opens the door. Tax residence sets the price.
The 7.5% rule of 2026
Since 25 May 2026, under Decree-Law 97/2026, a non-resident buying a home in Portugal pays IMT, the transfer tax, at a single rate of 7.5% from the first euro, with no brackets and no exemptions. The rule covers urban property intended exclusively for housing. Building land, rural property and commercial premises keep the ordinary rates. On a €500,000 apartment, IMT comes to €37,500, against €27,300.11 for a resident buying a second home, before stamp duty of 0.8%.
The surcharge can be recovered. A buyer who becomes tax resident in Portugal within two years of the purchase can ask for the difference to be cancelled and refunded, through a claim filed within six months. So can a buyer who lets the home as a residence at a moderate rent, up to €2,300 a month, with the lease starting within six months of the purchase and running for at least 36 months in the first five years. Above €1,150,853, residents also pay 7.5%, so the gap disappears.
The Tax Authority's circular of September 2026 adds two points. A buyer who has been tax resident in Portugal at any time in the past pays the ordinary rates, which concerns Portuguese emigrants and anyone who once lived here. A married couple under a community property regime pays 7.5% only if both spouses are non-resident and neither has ever been resident. Confirm your own case with a tax adviser before the promissory contract. The full tables are in our guide to property taxes in Portugal, and the complete budget in how much it costs to buy a house in Portugal.
Signing from a distance
Nobody has to fly in for the deed. A power of attorney allows a lawyer, or someone you trust, to sign the promissory contract and the deed on your behalf. Portuguese law requires it to take the same form as the act itself, so for a purchase it must be made before a notary or authenticated. Signed abroad, it is done before a local notary with an apostille under the 1961 Hague Convention, or at a Portuguese consulate, and a document in another language may need a certified translation. Keep the powers precise: the property, the price, the right to pay the taxes and to register the purchase.
The deed itself can be signed before a notary, as a private document authenticated by a lawyer or solicitor, or at a Casa Pronta desk of the land registry, where the purchase and its registration are completed in a single act. The legal effect is the same.
Holding the property: companies and distance
Some buyers prefer to hold property through a company. Portugal allows it, with two caveats. A foreign company that obtains a Portuguese tax number must declare its beneficial owners in the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership, the RCBE. And a company based in, or controlled from, a jurisdiction on Portugal's list of tax havens pays IMT at 10% and IMI at 7.5% a year. A structure that works elsewhere can be costly here, so decide who the buyer will be before the offer, not after.
Ownership brings an annual IMI of 0.3% to 0.45% of the tax value of urban property, owed by whoever owns it on 31 December, and AIMI on larger holdings. Decide early who receives the bills, who pays the condominium and who looks after the house in winter. None of this is new. The British wine shippers of Porto completed their Factory House in 1790, and Lisbon's Lapa, where many embassies stand and the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga occupies a palace on the Rua das Janelas Verdes, has long been a district of foreign residents.
Wiseguys Properties works with buyers who live abroad, from the first viewing to the deed. Among our listings are Janelas Verdes 1905, an Art Nouveau apartment in Lapa, and Vista Royal, a villa in Restelo. To talk about a purchase, contact us.
Frequently asked questions
Can foreigners buy property in Portugal?
Yes, with no restriction on nationality. A Portuguese tax number (NIF) is needed and, in practice, a Portuguese bank account.
Do I need a fiscal representative in Portugal?
Only if you live outside the EU and the EEA, and even then you can replace the representative by signing up to the Tax Authority's electronic notifications.
Do non-residents pay more tax when buying property in Portugal?
Since 25 May 2026, non-resident individuals pay IMT at 7.5% on homes. The difference is refundable if they become resident within two years or let the home at a moderate rent. According to the Tax Authority, former residents pay the ordinary rates.
Can a non-resident get a mortgage in Portugal?
Yes. Under the Banco de Portugal's recommendation, loans for a second home are limited to 80% of the property's value, and each bank may lend less.
Does buying a house give me residency in Portugal?
No. Property purchases have not qualified for the Golden Visa since October 2023, and owning a home gives no right of residence.
Can I buy property in Portugal without travelling there?
Yes, through a power of attorney made before a notary, with an apostille if signed abroad, or at a Portuguese consulate.
This article is general information as of October 2026 and does not replace legal or tax advice. Sources: Decreto-Lei 97/2026; Autoridade Tributária, Ofício-Circulado 40131/2026 and Ofício-Circulado 40129/2026; General Tax Law, articles 19 and 63-E; Decreto-Lei 44/2022; Lei 83/2017 and Lei 89/2017; Banco de Portugal, macroprudential recommendation for credit agreements from 1 August 2026; Civil Code, article 262; IMT Code, article 17. Photographs: Wiseguys Properties.
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