On Friday, the executive of the Porto City Council decided to submit to the approval of the Municipal Assembly the second modification of the Regulation of the Municipal Tourist Tax, which includes exemption for pilgrims and refugees temporarily residing in Portugal.
The second amendment to the regulation grants exemption from payment of the municipal tourist tax for the first night to pilgrims who, on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela or Fátima, stay in hostels in the city.
The exemption also covers those who, for reasons of conflict, are displaced from their countries of origin and temporarily reside in Portugal.
The same applies to two companions of a disabled person.
In the proposal, to which Lusa had access this Tuesday and which will be discussed at the private meeting of the municipal executive on Friday, the Minister of Economy of the Chamber of Porto, Ricardo Valente, clarifies that, according to the tax collection declarations presented by explorers of tourist developments, In the first half of this year, 3,190,869 overnight stays were recorded.
Of these, 3,873 were motivated by medical services or acts and 159 related to citizens with disabilities.
The number of overnight stays for which the exemption is proposed amounts to 4,032, corresponding to a value of 8,064 euros of Municipal Tourist Tax not collected by the municipality,” says the councilor, adding that the economic impact of the increase in these exemptions “will be residual or even null in the context of the total number of overnight stays”.
In this sense, the municipal executive decides to submit to the Municipal Assembly of Porto the approval of the second amendment to the regulation of the Municipal Tourist Tax.
Porto’s tourist tax came into force on March 1, 2018, with a value of two euros per night, and applies to guests over 13 years of age and for a maximum of seven consecutive nights.
The Regulation of the Municipal Tourist Tax was approved on December 18, 2017, by deliberation of the Porto Municipal Assembly, and published in the Diário da República on January 24, 2018.
The first modification of the regulation, approved on May 18, 2020, had the objective of “adapting to the legislative changes that have occurred in the meantime, namely, Law No. and introduced “improvements in some aspects”, namely, in terms of to “the regimes of supervisory and administrative infractions”.
The Porto Municipal Tourist Tax translates into a contribution of the users of the Tourist Companies and Local Accommodation Establishments, for the sustainability of the tourist offer of the city, to deal with the wear and tear inherent in the “tourist footprint”, explains the Porto City Council on the official website.
The rate is paid for overnight stays paid in Tourist and Local Accommodation Establishments located in the municipality of Porto and is not subject to Value Added Tax (VAT).
Source: Observadora
