Portugal is a part of the south western section of the continent of Europe and is flanked by Spain in the north and east and the vast Atlantic Ocean in the south and west. Real estate has a strong hold in Portugal and the market for such transactions is quite prominent. But the Portuguese laws and administrative rules and regulations are at times quite strict and constricting and therefore often acts as a negative buffer in case of transactions related to property. Still property mortgaging is one of the prevalent means practiced in the country and in these cases two significant components are the property transfer tax and the land registry fees.

Previously in Portugal, the property transfer tax was known as the SISA till 2003. The property transfer tax, also known as Imposto Municipal sobre Transmissoes is the means by which all the properties, pre existing as well as new,  their rates are valued and revalued according to the present market prices. There are certain factors which are necessary in case of any from of valuation carried out against a property. These include the size of the property i.e. the amount of land area occupied by it, its price, location of the property which is very important as price rates vary considerably according to location. Also the availability of communication facilities like transport and market places etc are also factors that add to valuation. The kind of use is also important for valuation like whether it is an industrial or a residential property etc. another thing is the age of the property which also has to be taken into consideration. The government accounts for about 6.5% of the valuation for urban properties. The figure reduces to 5% for properties in the outskirts of the city and 8%for those purchase made via offshore accounts. The land registry fees which have to be paid after the Contract for Sale and the Transfer of Title Deeds have been signed by both parties.