Buyers lose the IMT Jovem relief if they move more than 100 km for a new employer within six years of buying a home
Young buyers who used the IMT Jovem relief lose it if, within six years of buying their home, they move more than 100 kilometres for a job with a new employer. The tax authority decided this in a binding ruling (informação vinculativa) reported by Jornal de Negócios on 8 November (Jornal de Negócios).
Since August 2024, buyers aged 35 or under have paid no IMT, the tax on buying a home, and no stamp duty (Imposto do Selo) when buying their first home to live in. In 2026 the exemption is full for homes costing up to €330,539 and partial up to €660,982. In return, the buyer has to live in the home for six years. If it stops being their permanent home before then, the relief is lost and the IMT not paid at purchase becomes due (IMT code, article 11).
The law makes three exceptions: selling the home; changes in the family (marriage, divorce, the birth of a child); and moving to a new place of work more than 100 kilometres from the home, provided the flat is still lived in after the move. The tax authority reads the last exception narrowly: in its view, a contract with a new employer is not a change of place of work. Anyone who found a job with another company on their own initiative and moved more than 100 kilometres for it loses the relief, even if they let the flat.
If the relief is lost, you must ask for the tax to be assessed yourself within 30 days, using the official form, at the Finanças office where the purchase was registered (article 34 of the IMT code).
A binding ruling answers one taxpayer's question, but the tax authority treats similar cases the same way. Anyone who bought a home under IMT Jovem less than six years ago and is looking for work in another region should work out in advance how much tax they would owe: it is the amount they did not pay when they bought. Our guide How to buy a home in Portugal explains how buying a home works and which taxes you pay on it.
