House owners now can enter details on a DECO website and discover how much they should be paying in property rates each year.
According to consumer champion DECO, householders recently have shelled out an extra €8 million due to the Treasury’s flawed method of calculating the valor patrimonial of properties.
The 'Pay Less IMI' website provides a simulator for owners to find out the real value of their property and to calculate how much they should be paying in rates.
DECO claims the simulator is simple to use, taking three steps to calculate the correct annual IMI payment due, comparing this with the actual rates bill householders have been presented with.
According to Deco, the main problem with the current Finanças system is that it does not take into account the age and market value of the property when issuing a valor patrimonial from which the actual rates are worked out.
This lack of updating means many owners are paying more than they should.
Ernesto Pinto from DECO’s ‘Money & Rights’ said "It is unacceptable that taxpayers pay IMI on a house as if it was newly built and the cost of construction was the same as when it was bought.”
http://www.paguemenosimi.pt/simulacao
