Extraordinary and Temporary Support Measure - Temporary Interest Subsidy

For Customers with credit agreements for the acquisition, renovation, or construction of permanent home ownership.

Decree-Law No. 20-B/2023, of March 22, in the wording introduced by Law no. 56/2023, of 6 October, and by Decree-Law no. 91/2023, of 11 October, created extraordinary support in the form of a temporary interest subsidy on mortgage loans, which will remain in force until December 31, 2024 (“regime”). 

1. Contracts covered - eligible credit operations

  • Credit agreements for the acquisition, renovation or construction of permanent home ownership, regulated by Decree-Law No. 74-A/2017 of June 23 (as amended);
  • Entered into before March 15, 2023;
  • With an initial amount contracted equal to or less than 250,000 euros (contract limit);
  • Subject to a variable interest rate regime or, in the case of mixed interest rate contracts, are in a variable interest rate period;
  • Have no overdue installments.

2. Customers covered

Clients who cumulatively meet the following requirements are covered by this regime:

  • Tax residence in Portugal;
  • Have annual income equal to or below the sixth bracket of the Personal Income Tax ("IRS") code in effect on the date of the attribution of support by reference to the last annual tax return, or, if above this income, demonstrate that they have suffered a drop in income of more than 20% that places them in the sixth IRS bracket or below;
  • Clients who are not obliged to file the annual IRS tax return and who have a monthly income from work declared to the social security system or are beneficiaries of social benefits are required to have a total monthly income that does not exceed the amount corresponding to 1/14th of the value of the maximum limit of the sixth bracket of the IRS table in effect on the date the support is granted;
  • Have no financial assets that include, namely, deposits, financial instruments, capitalization insurance, savings or treasury certificates, with a total value of more than 62 times the social support index (IAS- indexante de apoios sociais) (€31,574.12 for the year 2024); 

Note 1: The IAS value for 2023 was €480.43, according to Administrative Rule no. 298/2022, of December 16. The IAS value for 2024 is €509.26, according to Administrative Rule no. 421/2023, of December 11).

  • Have an effort rate equal to or greater than 35% of your annual income with the value of the installments of the home loan contract(s);

Note 2: If the home loan contract has more than one borrower, the eligibility requirements apply to all borrowers.

Note 3: For the purposes of this support, "annual income" is considered to be the taxable income taxed at the general rates provided for in article 68 "General Rates" of the Income Tax Code, plus exempt and included income for the purposes of determining the rate under the terms of tax legislation, less the quotient of income produced in previous years, under the terms of article 74 "Income Produced in Previous Years" of the Income Tax Code, found in the beneficiary's Income Tax assessment for the last available tax period.

3. Interest subsidy

3.1 With retroactive effect from January 1, 2023:
  • The temporary interest subsidy is applicable when the reference rate of the credit contract is equal to or greater than 3%.
  • The temporary interest subsidy applies to the difference between the index value determined contractually and the 3 percent threshold (the "value calculated for the subsidy").

The subsidy corresponds to:

  • 100% of the amount calculated for the subsidy when the customer has an effort rate of 50% or more; 
  • 75% of the amount calculated for the subsidy when the customer has an effort rate equal to or greater than 35% and less than 50%.

When the monthly amount of the subsidy is less than €10.00, this will be the monthly amount awarded.

3.2 The maximum annual subsidy per credit agreement is €800.00.

3.3 For contracts entered into prior to 2011, the amount equivalent to the deduction from taxable income resulting from the payment of interest, with reference to the last available tax period, is deducted from the support granted under this regime.

4. What is needed to benefit from this measure?

4.1 To benefit from this measure, you must comply with the above-mentioned eligibility criteria and submit your request for access to the bonus to BBVA, providing the following documents:

BORROWER(S) WITH IRS ASSESSMENT

  • Access request document duly filled out and signed by all borrowers;
  • Last IRS settlement document; or
  • IRS assessment statement issued by the Tax Authority for the last tax year delivered and a Declaration from the Tax Authority of Portuguese tax residence.
  • Declaration of Financial Assets and Access to Information, where you declare that you do not have financial assets with a total value greater than 62 times the social support index (€31,574.12 for the year 2024). Duly completed and signed by all borrowers.
  • Statement "About income decrease", if applicable. If you have suffered a drop of more than 20% in your income that falls under the maximum limit of the sixth income tax bracket. Duly completed and signed by all borrowers.
  • Declaration regarding the deduction of taxable income on real estate expenses, in the event of credits prior to 2011, for the purposes of article 18 of the Decree-Law, if applicable. Duly completed and signed by all borrowers.

BORROWER(S) WITHOUT IRS ASSESSMENT

  • Request for access document duly completed and signed by all borrowers;
  • Declaration of Financial Assets and Access to Information, where you declare that you do not have financial assets with a total value greater than 62 times the social support index (€31,574.12 for the year 2024). Duly completed and signed by all borrowers;
  • Declaration from the Tax Authority of the Portuguese tax residence;
  • IRS exemption certificate and Social Security declarations, proving the monthly income declared to Social Security in the last 3 months; or
  • IRS exemption certificate and Social Security statements, proving the monthly value of social benefits and respective typology.

4.2 BBVA may also request other information and documents appropriate for the calculation of your effort rate. This information and documents must be delivered to BBVA within 10 days.

5. How to request access to the subsidy

To request access to the subsidy, you must follow these steps:

1st step: Fill out and print/download the documents and forms applicable to your case: 

Note: Documents to be made available soon. 

2nd step: Statements to be signed by all borrowers;

3rd step: Obtain certificates/declarations from the Tax Authority and/or Social Security;

4th step: Email BBVA at pedidobonificacao.pt@bbva.com with all the documentation applicable to your case.

6. Enhanced Due Diligence and Surveillance

Institutions are bound by enhanced due diligence, and when borrowers exhibit an effort rate equal to or greater than 100%, BBVA:

i) shall apply increased due diligence measures, requesting any documents and information it deems appropriate to verify the requirements for granting the measure and,

ii) shall inform the borrower that the authorities responsible for monitoring this scheme can access the information necessary to confirm the veracity of the statements.

In addition to the contents of ii), with retroactive effect from January 1, 2023, the Inspectorate-General of Finance conducts audits of the amounts paid under this scheme, including credit contracts entered into by borrowers with an effort rate equal to or greater than 100%.

7. Implementation of procedures

The procedures to be followed regarding the payment of the bonus, as well as its management, control, amortization, and collection, are detailed in a Protocol agreed upon between the Directorate-General of Treasury and Finance and the institutions, in the wording that will be introduced within a maximum period of 10 working days from October 12, 2023; see Article 14 of Decree-Law No. 91/2023, of October 11.

8. What are the general impacts of the interest subsidy on the value of the installments and the total cost of the loan?

The interest subsidy has no impact on the value of the installments or on the total cost of the loan, as it consists of a support measure, the value of which is credited to the demand deposit account associated with the loan. 
Duration of the Measures

This scheme runs until December 31, 2024

Need help?

If you fit into any of these situations, please contact us.

For questions and further information, call the BBVA Helpline on +351 21 391 14 16* / 707 256 256** Monday to Friday from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm and Saturday from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm or through apoio.clientes@bbva.com.

* National landline call / ** Calls to numbers from the 707 range have a cost of €0.10 + VAT per minute for calls from landline phones and €0.25 + VAT per minute from cellphones, the tariff being defined per second from the first minute onward.

 

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