At issue is the average value of construction per square meter, which in 2023 is set at 532 euros, plus 25%, as defined by the Municipal Property Tax Code (CIMI).

"The average value of construction per square meter is set at 532 euros, for the purposes of article 39 of the Municipal Property Tax Code, to be in force in the year 2023", reads the ordinance signed by the Secretary of State for Affairs Tax, Nuno Santos Félix.

Thus, and taking into account the CIMI formula, the value that will be used in 2023 amounts to 665 euros, which is the highest since 2003, the year in which IMI replaced the Municipal Tax.

The price per square meter of construction is one of the elements that make up the calculation formula of the evaluation system for urban buildings and, consequently, the determination of their taxable value (VTP), on which the IMI rate is levied.

The price per square meter of construction is fixed annually by Government decree, under a proposal from the National Commission for the Evaluation of Urban Buildings (CNAPU).

The price per square metre for purposes of the base value of built buildings was fixed at 600 euros in 2003 and 2004, having risen to 612.5 euros in 2005 and to 615 euros in 2006 -- a value that remained until 2008.

In 2009, due to the effects of the financial and economic crisis, which were already beginning to be felt, it dropped to 609 euros. A year later, it dropped again, to 603 euros, a level where it remained frozen until 2018, having advanced to 615 euros in 2019, a value that remained until 2021. Last year it was set at 640 euros.