The price cap in VAT at 6%: the €660,982 of 2026
VAT at 6% on housing construction has a value cap. Above it, the property is not
eligible and the corresponding part of the construction contract is taxed at the standard rate. It is the criterion that excludes the most units from the regime in upper-middle and high-end product.
The figure is not written into the law
Article 2(2)(b) of Decree-Law no. 97/2026 does not set a figure. It cross-refers to the upper limit of the second bracket of the table in article 17(1)(b) of the IMT Code, in the wording given by Law no. 73-A/2025, which approved the State Budget for 2026.[1] That limit corresponds to €660,982 in 2026, a figure that rose from the €648,022 of the version initially presented.[2][3]
Article 2(3) allows both caps to be updated by ministerial order
(portaria) of the members of the Government responsible for finance and
housing, in accordance with the updating factor of article 24 of the New Urban
Lease Regime (NRAU).[1] Do not treat €660,982 as a permanent figure. Confirm the value in force in the year of the operation.
The same cap applies to the partial VAT refund regime for self-build. Annex ii of the diploma cross-refers to article 2(2) and (3), assessing the taxable asset value, or the land value plus construction costs without VAT if higher, against the same limits.[1] See the page on works on your own home.
What goes into the value calculation
Article 3 is explicit. The acquisition value is taken to be the whole of the value paid for the urban property, mixed property or autonomous unit within the transaction, plus the value corresponding to the movable goods, equipment or ancillary parts that, by their nature, are materially attached to the property on a permanent basis, as well as the services that add to its value, even where, in any case, these are the subject of separate legal transactions.[1]
The final phrase is decisive. Splitting the garage, the finishes or the kitchen into a separate contract does not remove those values from the calculation. The law anticipated that engineering and closed it off expressly.[1]
In the terminology of article 40 of the IMI Code, garages, parking spaces and storage rooms are dependent gross areas of the unit.[4] The decree does not list them. It states a
criterion, that of material attachment on a permanent basis, within which these fall naturally.
