Tax register article (artigo matricial)
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The artigo matricial is the number under which a property is entered in the Tax Authority’s property register, identifying it for tax purposes.
The property tax registers (matrizes prediais) are the Tax Authority's records describing each property, its location, its and the identity of its owners (IMI Code, article 12). There are two: one for rural and one for urban property.
Each property has a number in that register: the artigo matricial. It is read together with the parish and the type, for example 'urban article 1234 of the parish of X'. In a building under , the letter of the is added.
It should not be confused with the , which is the property's number at the land registry. They are two different records kept by different bodies. The land registry description mentions the tax register article (Land Registry Code, article 82).
Example
Illustrative example: a listing identifies 'autonomous unit C of the building entered in the tax register under article 1234 and described at the land registry under no. 567'. Article 1234 and letter C give access to the ; no. 567 is used to request the .
In practice, at an auction
The tax register article appears in the sale notice and lets you confirm, on the tax record, the area, the use and the VPT. Compare them with the listing and with what you see at the viewing.
Entry in the tax register serves tax purposes: only for those purposes does it create a presumption of ownership (article 12(5)). Who owns the property and what encumbers it is shown by the . If the listing says the property is 'omisso na matriz', it is not yet entered in the register: check with the tax office what is needed to regularise it.