Now that the new housing law called “Mais Habitação” is in effect, since 7th October, many tourist rental (Alojamento Local, or AL) owners are considering the option of cancelling the AL registration but continuing to do short-term, mid-term or long-term rentals.
We have already explained the differences between AL and longer term rentals and we have shown that it is possible to rent for just 1 day without the property being registered as AL, although this would not really be financially viable. But renting for a few weeks or a month certainly can be financially viable, and this is the option that many owners would like to do.
So, the next logical question is, where do I advertise? For example, can I still list my property on Airbnb if it is not registered as Alojamento Local? And the answer is a resounding YES!
Let’s see how:
Article 4, Item 2 of the law published as Decree-Law Nº 128/2014 from 29th August (later updated by Decree-Law Nº 63/2015 from 23rd April, Decree-Law Nº 62/2018 from 22nd August, Ordinance n.º 262/2020 from 6th of November, and Lei n.º 56/2023 from 6th of October) basically says that the property is assumed to be AL if it is listed with tour agents or on online sites as temporary or tourist accommodation.
HOWEVER, the next item (number 3) of the same Article, says: “A presunção referida no número anterior pode ser ilidida nos termos gerais de direito, designadamente mediante apresentação de contrato de arrendamento urbano devidamente registado nos serviços de finanças.” (Translation: The assumption referred to in the previous Item may be voided if an urban rental contract is properly registered at the Finanças).
This means that non-AL properties can be published in sites like Airbnb as long as the owner registers a contract with Finanças for any bookings.
On Airbnb, there is an option to configure the property as “Exempt” from having a tourist rental licence number, and this is the option to be used to advertise the property with no AL registration and do rentals this way.
When registering for the first time a new room or property, the system asks if it is Exempt:
On the next screen, you have to specify the reason for the exemption:
For every stay, the rental has to be registered on the Finanças portal, and stamp tax paid. The stamp duty (called Imposto de Selo, or IS) is equivalent to 10% of the first month’s rental, or 10% of the total price if less than one month. Also, official rental receipts or invoices have to be issued (monthly for long stays, or just one receipt/invoice for stays of less than one month).
In terms of income tax, non-AL rentals of less than 5 years are taxed at a fixed rate 25% and paid at the time of doing the IRS income tax declaration the following year. The Imposto de Selo payments, mentioned earlier, can be deducted.
Summary: Non-AL properties, with no licence number, can be published on Airbnb and other sites, as long as there is a registered rental contract.
