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20,000 Fewer Landlords Declare Rental Income and Submit Receipts

16 February 2018

Real estate pressures in the historic centres of major cities are leading many landlords to sell their properties.

The number of landlords who are submitting electronic income receipts has increased slightly in the last year, but the increase was insufficient to compensate for the decline in annual returns. All told, returns have shown that, at the beginning of this year, there were fewer 20,474 landlords than in 2017.

Since 2015, property owners who place their assets in the rental market have been required to issue electronic rent receipts. The only exceptions to this rule are people over the age of 65, and those whose annual income is less than 800 euros, where it is possible to report the income to the Tax and Customs Authority through a yearly declaration (Model 44), which must be submitted by the end of January.

In response to a query by DN/Dinheiro Vivo, the Finance Ministry specified that, as of January 31, 130,321 Model 44s had been submitted compared to 154,798 last year. The same data shows that there was an increase in the number of electronic receipts: 433,243 landlords submitted the declarations in the previous year, compared to the 437,246 delivered by the end of January.

This data reveals – just as personal income tax receipts had indicated – that fewer homeowners are placing their properties on the long-term rental market. The trend does not surprise Romão Lavadinho, president of the Lisbon Tenant’s Association, who deals almost daily with cases of tenants who live in the historic centre of Lisbon and are pressured to leave their homes. “Real estate companies promise landlords who have properties in Alfama, Mouraria, Castelo, that they can be sold for €500,000-600,000 and there is a lot of pressure for to tenants to give up their homes.” One way to stop this, he believes, is to change the rental law. The Lisbon Tenant’s Association is preparing a proposal for Parliament.

Original Story: Diário de Notícias – Lucília Tiago

Translation: Richard Turner