Taxes for residents and owners

Cape Verde taxes property at purchase, annually, and on rental income. The system is smaller than a European tax office, but it is not optional. Unpaid municipal tax sits on the title. Rental income that never gets declared becomes a problem the year you try to sell or apply for residency.

IMT when you buy

IMT (Imposto Municipal sobre as Transmissões) is the transfer tax. It is paid at completion, usually through the notary. Rates are progressive and lower if the house will be your primary residence. An investment villa on Sal is not a primary residence, even if you spend August there.

Budget IMT inside the 4–6% extras, not as a surprise on the day. Your lawyer should give you the figure from the current table before you sign the promissory contract. Company purchases can look clever; they add accounting and only pay off above a certain portfolio size.

IUR every year

IUR is the municipal property tax, billed yearly. Compared with many European countries it is modest. That is not a reason to ignore it. The Câmara can refuse a clean registry extract while IUR is outstanding, which blocks a sale.

Ask the seller for the last three receipts. After you complete, make sure Finanças has your NIF on the property. A local accountant or the property manager can pay IUR on standing order if you live abroad.

Rental income

Income from holiday lets and long-term rents is taxable. Non-residents typically face withholding on gross rents. Residents file through personal IUR. Platform payouts (Airbnb and the rest) are not invisible; keep the statements.

Deductible costs are narrower than people hope. Furniture, a housekeeper and the pool man are real expenses; whether they reduce the tax bill depends on how you are classified. Double-tax treaties exist with Portugal and several other states. Check the credit in your home country before you assume the Cape Verdean tax is “instead of” rather than “as well as”.

Residents versus visitors

A tourist who owns a house is still a non-resident for tax until the immigration file says otherwise. Days on the island, a rental contract, and a residence card are different clocks. Mixing them up is how people get fined at the airport and queried by two tax authorities.

There is no French-style inheritance tax, but gifts and sales between living people can trigger IMT again. Wills in your home country do not automatically update the Cape Verdean registry. If the family plan is “the children get the villa”, put that in a deed and a will that a Praia notary can read.

Practical rhythm

• Get a NIF before the first deed.
• File IUR annually, even if the amount is small.
• Keep rental statements for five years.
• Tell your home-country accountant you own property here; surprises at their end cost more than the local bill.

Taxes are not a reason to avoid Cape Verde. They are a reason to budget 4–6% on the way in, a modest municipal bill every year, and an honest line for rent.

Island notes for tax

A Santa Maria winter let is income, even if you call it “helping with costs”. A Palmarejo apartment you live in six months and rent four is mixed-use — tell the accountant the truth. Company wrappers owned in Lisbon still need a Cape Verdean conversation when the villa is here.

Keep a folder (paper, not only email) with: the deed, the NIF letter, IUR receipts, rental statements, and the lawyer’s completion statement. Five years is a reasonable keep.

Lecture checklist

• IMT quoted before the promissory contract, not after.
• IUR payer name changed after completion.
• Rental platform payouts filed, even when small.
• Home-country accountant told that the villa exists.
• No “friend who knows Finanças” instead of a receipt.

Treat tax as a calendar, not a scare. The people who settle here are bored of this chapter within a year, which is the goal.