The suggestion stems from the EC's desire to encourage homeowners to put houses on the market and promote residential mobility. In this context, the bloc also suggests temporarily granting a subsidy to the most vulnerable families.
In its recommendations to Portugal, the European Commission states that there should be a "shift from transaction taxes to recurring taxation, including through an update of the property value of properties, which could incentivise homeowners to put underutilised houses on the market and encourage residential mobility."
The bloc also says that Portugal has recorded one of the "largest cumulative increases in nominal house prices in the last ten years, more than double since 2015," and that "affordability pressures are much higher in coastal urban areas" and that "structural imbalances between supply and demand persist."
According to ECO, the EC acknowledges that "investment in social housing has increased significantly in recent years, partly supported by European funds."
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Typical rampant socialism...tax people out of their own homes, because the state (EU) has no other ideas but tax, tax, tax.
By Bruce from Lisbon on 05 Jun 2026, 07:28
In otherwords, tax the majority to try flush out the few.
By Bert from Beiras on 05 Jun 2026, 08:17
@Buce, first Portugal is a Socialist Democracy which means that your taxes go to free health care, free higher education, paid maternity and paternity leave, etc. Cry me a river regarding property taxes. I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. The property tax on my small condominium was $9,000 per year. Because of the loopholes that corporations and billionaires have, the homeowners make up for the corporations and top one percent lack of paying taxes. I am very happy to pay taxes in Portugal because most ordinary citizens benefit from it.
By Jeannette Kortz from Lisbon on 05 Jun 2026, 16:07
What an ill thought out and ridiculous suggestion. Charge a premium on empty properties if necessary, but raising taxes on single property owners will have negligible effect on the market availability. And swapping one tax for another never works
By Martyn from Algarve on 05 Jun 2026, 17:21
Tax me out of my home so that someone else may buy it and thus somehow magically repair the "structural imbalances between supply and demand". You can't make this stuff up. Only in Europe.
By Tony from USA on 05 Jun 2026, 22:17
It's up to homeowners themselves what they do with their properties. Taxes shouldn't be used to persuade, or worse still, bully people into any particular course of action. The state should stick to it's oen job of governing, and not be constantly interfering in people's lives.
Portugal already has transaction taxes and recurring taxes on property, such as IMI.
As for taxes funding public services, good luck getting a doctor's appointment. You could be paying a million euros a year in income tax, and still not get registered with the health service due to a lack of doctors. I don't expect public services to be free or subsidisd, like healthcare, higher education, housing or transport.
There are always going to be millions of freeloaders that pay little to no income tax who push for everything to be free in the knowledge that everyone else is going to pay for them.
By Billy Bissett from Porto on 06 Jun 2026, 11:05
I agree with Martyn. Could be a practical idea in the case of empty houses, but this will not change the prices of houses. Let's not forget that this idea comes from the same people who have been giving billions of European citizens tax money to Ukraine, without ever consulting these citizens on what they thought of it !!!
By JC from Beiras on 06 Jun 2026, 16:46
Taxes to pay for public works and social services are needed and absolutely justified!
By A L Fernandes from Other on 06 Jun 2026, 16:51