A new APFN digital campaign is empowering families across Portugal to advocate for the nationwide adoption of the Family IMI, a municipal property tax reduction that supports households with children.
Families across Portugal are coming together to encourage local authorities to adopt the Family IMI (IMI Familiar), a family-friendly municipal property tax reduction that helps ease the financial burden on households raising children.
The initiative is being led by the Portuguese Large Families Association (APFN), which has launched a digital platform enabling residents to contact their mayors and municipal assembly presidents directly. Through the platform, families can easily send messages calling for the introduction of the Family IMI in the 34 Portuguese municipalities where the measure has not yet been implemented.
Since its launch earlier this year, the tool has already generated 146 letters from citizens advocating for access to the Family IMI. According to APFN, the first results demonstrate that the willingness to promote fairer family policies is not limited to large urban areas.
While the highest number of submissions naturally comes from more populous municipalities—Sintra with 69 submissions, Porto with 41, and Seixal with 17—participation relative to population size shows that residents of smaller municipalities are equally engaged in supporting family-oriented local policies.
The campaign is already producing tangible results. In the municipality of Sintra, the Municipal Assembly has approved a recommendation supporting the implementation of the Family IMI, marking an important step towards extending the benefit to local families.
Introduced in 2016, the Family IMI allows Portuguese municipalities to reduce the amount of municipal property tax paid by households according to the number of dependent children they are raising. The measure recognizes that larger families often require larger homes out of necessity rather than luxury and helps offset the additional costs associated with family life.
APFN considers the Family IMI an essential instrument of demographic policy and local family support. By encouraging all municipalities to adopt the measure, the Association aims to ensure that families throughout Portugal receive equal recognition and support, regardless of where they live.