The so-called Mais Habitação Package (Law No. 56/2023, of October 6) introduced amendments to the Real Estate Transfer Tax (IMT) exemption regime which is applicable to the acquisition of property for resale.

Under the previous regime, the benefit of this exemption depended on the resale of the acquired property within a 3-year period. However, the Mais Habitação Package reduced the reinvestment period from 3 years to 1 year. Within this context, the amendment raised interpretative issues on the applicable period for taxpayers who had acquired properties for resale prior to the entry into force of the new 1-year period.

Nonetheless, the Tax Authority (AT) has now confirmed, by means of three binding rulings published on February 15, that properties acquired before the entry into force of these amendments will still benefit from a 3-year resale period.