GOVERNMENT DELAYS PAYMENT OF ALOJAMENTO LOCAL CEAL TAX

The Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs, Cláudia Reis Duarte, has published an official dispatch, dated 14th June 2024, which delays by 120 days deadline for payment of this tax called, in Portuguese, the contribuição extraordinária sobre os apartamentos e estabelecimentos de hospedagem integrados numa fração autónoma de edifício em alojamento local (CEAL).

The CEAL tax was determined by the so-called “Mais Habitação” law, known officially as Lei n.º 56/2023, de 6 de outubro, and had to be declared by 20th June, with payment made by 25th June, every year. However, in order to make a payment, Finanças, the state financial authorities, has to publish an official form to declare the payment, which hasn’t yet been done.

The dispatch (DESPACHO N.º 30/2024-XXIV) considers that:

• the aforementioned ordinance was not published;
• the Government submitted to the Assembly of the Republic a proposal for a legislative authorization law to revoke the CEAL and that it is the Government’s intention that this revocation take effect on 31 December 2023 (as provided for in the draft authorized decree-law accompanying this proposal);

It should also be noted that the proposal mentioned in the second point above is scheduled to be voted on by the Parliament on the 20th June 2024.