Property tax in Portugal and Ukraine: buy, hold, let, sell, inherit

Buying

On a 250 000 € flat in Lisbon bought as a main home by a Portuguese resident: IMT about 7 040 € plus 2 000 € of stamp duty, some 9 000 € before the notary and agent. The same money in Kyiv — 12,8 million UAH at the National Bank’s September 2026 rate — costs 2 %, about 256 000 UAH (5 000 €), before notary fees. A Ukrainian buying in Portugal before becoming resident pays 18 750 € of IMT at the 7,5 % rate and claims the difference back after registering as resident.

• 2 % of the price in Ukrainian duties; about 3,6 % in IMT and stamp duty on a 250 000 € Portuguese main home, 8,3 % if bought while non-resident (refundable)
• Up to 129,71 UAH per m² a year in Ukraine above 60 m² (flat) or 120 m² (house); 0,3–0,45 % of the tax value in Portugal
• Selling a home held 3+ years: 0 % in Ukraine once a year; half the gain at the progressive rates in Portugal, main home exempt on reinvestment in the EU/EEA
• Inheritance: 0 % in Ukraine within the family, 5 % beyond, 18 % across a border; 10 % stamp duty in Portugal outside the spouse–children–parents line

Holding

Ukraine charges a property tax “on real estate other than land” (Tax Code, art. 266) on owners, including non-residents. Each council sets its rate up to 1,5 % of the minimum wage per square metre a year — at most 129,71 UAH per m² in 2026 — after an allowance of 60 m² for flats, 120 m² for houses, 180 m² when you own both. A 90 m² flat in a council charging the maximum pays up to 3 891 UAH a year, about 76 €; a 200 m² house up to 10 376 UAH. Homes above 300 m² (flats) or 500 m² (houses) carry a further 25 000 UAH a year each. Land under a house is taxed separately, at up to 3 % of its normative valuation.

Portugal charges IMI at 0,3 % to 0,45 % of the tax value (VPT), a formula value usually well below the price; on a 250 000 € Lisbon flat the bill is commonly 300–700 € a year, paid in May, or in two or three instalments. A main home with a VPT up to 125 000 € and household income up to 153 300 € is exempt for the first three years. AIMI adds 0,7 % on residential VPT above 600 000 € per person.

Letting

Ukraine taxes rent at 18 % plus the 5 % levy; a non-resident landlord must let through a Ukrainian tax agent (art. 170.1). Portugal taxes long-term residential rent at a flat 25 % of net rent (IMI, condominium, insurance and repairs deductible), falling to 15 %, 10 % and 5 % for leases of five, ten and twenty years, with 10 % of a month’s rent in stamp duty on registration.

A Portuguese resident who keeps the Kyiv flat and lets it pays Ukraine first (treaty art. 6), then declares the rent in annex J and credits the Ukrainian tax against the Portuguese 25 % (art. 24). Because Ukraine’s 23 % is close to Portugal’s 25 %, little is left to pay here — but the return is still due, and the Ukrainian tax agent’s certificate is the evidence.

Selling

Ukraine (art. 172): the sale of one home a year — house, flat, room, dacha with its land — is tax-free if you owned it more than three years (inherited property needs no holding period). A second sale in the year is taxed at 5 %, a third at 18 %, non-residents at 18 % (art. 172.9); the military levy follows. Portugal taxes half the gain at the progressive rates for residents and non-residents alike; a resident’s main home is exempt when the proceeds buy another main home in Portugal or the EU/EEA within 36 months — reinvesting in Ukraine does not qualify.

Cross-border: a Portuguese resident selling the Kyiv flat is taxed in Ukraine under art. 172 as a non-resident (treaty art. 13 leaves gains on property to the state where it stands) and must also declare the gain in Portugal, half of it at the progressive rates, with a credit for the Ukrainian tax. Where Ukraine charges nothing, Portugal’s tax stands in full — the first-sale exemption does not cross the border.

Passing it on

Ukraine (art. 174) taxes inheritances and gifts at 0 % between first- and second-degree relatives (spouse, children, parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren), 5 % for other resident heirs, and 18 % whenever the deceased or the heir is a non-resident — so a flat in Kyiv left by a parent to a child living in Portugal is taxed at 18 % plus the levy, not 0 %, if the child is a Ukrainian non-resident. Portugal has no inheritance tax: gifts and inheritances carry 10 % stamp duty on the VPT of Portuguese assets, and spouses, descendants and ascendants are exempt. Neither treaty article covers inheritance tax; the two systems simply add up.

Steps

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