Tourist tax in Madeira: how the municipal ecotaxa works in 2026
Madeira does not have a single regional tourist tax — each of the 11 municipalities (10 on Madeira island, plus Porto Santo) sets its own rate, exemptions, portal and deadline. This page explains how the municipal ecotaxa works across the archipelago: who charges what, who is exempt, how nights are counted across months, and where the 2.5% host commission applies.
What Madeira's tourist tax is
Madeira's tourist tax — locally called ecotaxa or taxa turística — is a per-guest, per-night charge collected by each câmara municipal from overnight guests staying in registered accommodation. It is separate from VAT, separate from SIBA, and separate from INE statistics.
There is no regional Madeira tax: each of the 11 municipalities sets its own rate, exemption list, cap, portal and deadline under the framework of Lei 73/2013 and the Estatuto Político-Administrativo da Região Autónoma da Madeira.
Most municipalities that collect it charge €2 per guest per night with a 7-night cap. A handful (currently Porto Moniz) do not collect it at all. Santa Cruz, Machico, Santana and Porto Santo — and Albufeira on the mainland — pay a 2.5% commission back to the host for administering the collection.
Who charges it and who pays
- Every AL, hotel, guesthouse and rural tourism unit registered on the RNAL inside a Madeira municipality that has activated the tax.
- Guests aged over 12 who are not residents of the collecting municipality — resident status is proven by the guest's declared address, not by nationality or Madeira residency at large.
- Guests under 13 are exempt everywhere in Madeira. Some municipalities add further exemptions (medical stays, official visits) — Chave AL tracks them per câmara.
- OTAs (Booking, Airbnb, Expedia) do not collect Madeira's municipal tax on your behalf — the obligation stays with the AL operator regardless of channel.
When it must be declared and paid
Declarations are monthly. Each câmara publishes its own deadline — most fall between the 10th and end of the following month.
Payment usually accompanies the declaration or is issued as a Documento Único de Cobrança (DUC) after upload.
Nights are declared in the month they were slept, not the month of check-in. A stay from 28 June to 5 July splits into 3 June nights and 4 July nights on two separate declarations.
Zero months usually still require a null return once you are registered on a câmara's portal.
What each câmara portal wants
- Number of taxable nights in the declared month, per property.
- Number of exempt nights, broken down by exemption reason (under-13, resident, other).
- Total taxable amount and total exempt amount.
- The RNAL number of the AL and, for some câmaras, the establishment's tax address.
- For Santa Cruz (and Albufeira): a separate host invoice for the 2.5% commission, made out to the câmara.
Common Madeira ecotaxa mistakes
- Applying one rate across the whole island — Each municipality is separate. A property in Caniço (Santa Cruz) and a property in Funchal file two different declarations on two different portals.
- Not splitting cross-month nights — Allocate each night to the month it was actually slept. Chave AL splits automatically — the SIBA, INE and tourist tax figures all reconcile.
- Assuming Madeira residents are exempt everywhere — Only residents of the collecting municipality are exempt. A Funchal resident staying in Caniço still pays Santa Cruz's tax.
- Missing Santa Cruz's 2.5% commission invoice — The commission is only paid against a proper invoice issued to the câmara. Without it you lose the 2.5% or delay reconciliation — Chave AL generates it with each declaration.
- Treating the tourist tax as revenue — The tax is collected on behalf of the câmara, not earned. Strip it from your INE IPHH revenue line and from your accounting turnover.
- Skipping zero months once registered — Once you are onboarded on a câmara's portal, silence counts as non-compliance. File the null return.
How Chave AL handles Madeira's tourist tax
- All 11 Madeira/Porto Santo municipalities are pre-configured with the current rate, cap, exemptions and portal link.
- Cross-month nights are split automatically, matching the SIBA and INE logic so the three filings reconcile.
- Under-13 and resident exemptions are captured on the guest form and removed from the taxable count without extra work.
- For Santa Cruz, the 2.5% commission invoice is generated in the format the câmara accepts, ready to upload with the monthly declaration.
- A single monthly PDF per property carries totals, anonymised guest list and exemption breakdown — the whole month uploads in minutes.
Frequently asked questions
- Which Madeira municipalities are supported?
- All of them: Funchal, Santa Cruz, Machico, Câmara de Lobos, Ribeira Brava, Ponta do Sol, Calheta, São Vicente, Santana, Porto Moniz and Porto Santo. Each has its current rate, exemption list and portal link in the app.
- How is a booking that spans two months handled?
- Chave AL splits the nights automatically — guests staying 28 June to 5 July generate 3 nights for June's declaration and 4 nights for July's, with the correct totals on each PDF.
- What about the 2.5% commission for Santa Cruz?
- Chave AL generates the commission invoice (€ + IVA) ready to upload alongside your monthly declaration. The same workflow covers Albufeira on the mainland.
- Do I still file on each câmara's portal?
- Yes — every Madeira câmara still requires the declaration to be filed on its own portal. Chave AL prepares the numbers, exemptions and PDF so the upload takes a couple of minutes instead of an evening.
- Which Madeira municipalities currently pay a commission to hosts?
- Santa Cruz, Machico, Santana and Porto Santo all provide a 2.5% collection commission to the host in their regulations, paid against an invoice to the câmara (Machico has monthly/annual invoicing rules with a €50 monthly threshold; Porto Santo adds VAT). Check your council's regulation for the exact invoicing terms.
- What happens if a stay covers Funchal and Santa Cruz?
- Only the nights slept in each municipality are declared to that câmara. A guest who moves properties mid-stay is treated as two separate stays for tax purposes, and Chave AL keeps the accounting separate per property.
Related
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