Glossary
Portuguese mortgage & property glossary
The Portuguese property and mortgage world has its own vocabulary. Here are the terms you’ll come across, in plain English.
- NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal)
- Your Portuguese tax number. You need one for almost any financial step — opening a bank account, signing a contract or buying property. Non-residents can obtain one too.
- IMT (Imposto Municipal sobre Transmissões)
- The property transfer tax, paid by the buyer before the deed. It’s progressive and charged on the higher of the price or the taxable value. See our cost-of-buying calculator.
- IS (Imposto do Selo) — Stamp duty
- A flat 0,8% of the purchase price. If you take a mortgage, a further 0,6% applies to the loan amount (for terms of 5 years or more).
- IMI (Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis)
- The annual municipal property tax you pay every year as an owner — roughly 0,3%–0,45% of the taxable value for urban homes.
- VPT (Valor Patrimonial Tributário)
- The property’s official taxable value, set by the tax authority. IMT and IMI are based on the higher of the VPT or the purchase price.
- CPCV (Contrato de Promessa de Compra e Venda)
- The promissory purchase contract, signed before the final deed. It commits both sides and is usually accompanied by a deposit (the sinal).
- Sinal (deposit)
- The deposit paid at the CPCV — commonly around 10% of the price. If the buyer backs out they typically lose it; if the seller backs out they usually owe double.
- Escritura (deed)
- The final purchase deed, signed before a notary, where ownership transfers. IMT and stamp duty must be paid beforehand.
- Euribor
- The euro-area benchmark interest rate that variable-rate mortgages track. Your rate is usually Euribor plus the bank’s spread.
- Spread
- The bank’s margin added on top of Euribor on a variable-rate loan. A lower spread means a cheaper mortgage — and it’s one of the things we negotiate.
- TAN & TAEG
- TAN is the nominal annual rate; TAEG (APRC) is the all-in annual cost including fees and insurance — the best number for comparing offers.
- Taxa de esforço (effort rate)
- Your debt-to-income ratio — how much of your monthly income goes to loan payments. Portuguese banks generally like to keep it around 35% or below.
- Avaliação (valuation)
- The bank’s property appraisal. The mortgage is based on the lower of the valuation and the purchase price, so a low valuation can change how much you can borrow.
- Fiador (guarantor)
- A person who guarantees the loan if the borrower can’t pay. Sometimes requested for thinner or non-resident profiles.
- HPP — Habitação Própria e Permanente
- Your primary, permanent residence. It qualifies for lower IMT brackets than a second home or investment property.
- FINE / ESIS
- The standardised European information sheet (Ficha de Informação Normalizada Europeia) the bank must give you, summarising the loan’s key terms and total cost.
- Distrate
- The formal discharge of an existing mortgage — the step that clears the old loan from the property, e.g. when you remortgage or sell.
- Caderneta Predial
- The property’s tax record from the Finanças, showing its VPT, location and characteristics. Often needed during the buying process.