Three of the Algarve’s councils head the national raking for the most tax collected per head in local rates, or IMI.
Albufeira, Loulé and Lagos councils were the top three collectors for 2014 ranked by 'tax per head' in a year in which the total sum extracted from Portugal's property owners was €1.5 billion.
According to figures from the Directorate General for Local Government, the amount collected in 'Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis' "has grown steadily since 2010 and is now 32% higher than in that year. In 2014 alone, the overall increase in IMI was 12.4%.”
Lisbon took the greatest cash sum in 2014, with €111 million, 7.6% of the national total.
Sintra charged its ratepayers €51 million with Cascais, Oporto and Vila Nova de Gaia completing the top five in terms of cash. These councils represent 20.3% of the national IMI haul.
On average, in 2014, each Portuguese resident paid €141 in IMI.
Values varied widely with those living in Albufeira shelling out an average of €689 per capita compared to €36 each in Corvo.
“Albufeira was the municipality where per head IMI take was highest, followed by Loulé, Lagos and Castro Marim.
