Who pays property tax (impuesto predial) in Peru, how much is it, and when do you file the declaration?

What it is and who collects it

Impuesto predial is an annual municipal tax on the value of urban and rural property, worked out from its autovalúo (the official valuation). It is collected by the district municipality where the property is. In Lima, SAT Lima (Servicio de Administración Tributaria, the city’s tax office) collects it only for properties in the Cercado de Lima. If you live in Miraflores, San Borja or Comas, you deal with your own municipality.

If you own several properties in the same district, the tax base is the sum of all their valuations on 1 January. The valuation uses the land values and unit building prices that the Ministry of Housing, Construction and Sanitation approves every year.

Who pays: the 1 January rule

Article 10 of the Municipal Taxation Law (Ley de Tributación Municipal, whose consolidated text was approved by Decreto Supremo 156-2004-EF) looks at who owned the property on 1 January. If you buy an apartment in April, you only become the taxpayer from 1 January of the following year. That year’s tax is owed by the seller: article 16 requires them to pay it in full by the last business day of the month after the sale.

If a property has several owners (condóminos), it is treated as belonging to a single owner unless the municipality is told each owner’s name and share. Even so, the municipality can charge the full amount to any one of them (article 9). If the owner cannot be identified, the occupants pay.

How much: brackets in UIT

Article 13 sets a cumulative progressive scale. Each slice of the valuation pays its own rate. The UIT (Unidad Impositiva Tributaria) is the tax reference value, updated every year.

The soles figures in the table use the 2026 UIT. The municipality may set a minimum of 0.6% of the UIT in force on 1 January: S/ 33.00.

Example. A valuation of 100 UIT pays 0.2% on the first 15 UIT, 0.6% on the next 45 and 1% on the last 40. In total, 0.70 UIT: S/ 3,850 at the 2026 UIT.

When it is paid

Under article 15:

• In full: by the last business day of February.
• In instalments: up to four quarterly payments. The first, a quarter of the tax, is due by the last business day of February. The others are due by the last business day of May, August and November, adjusted by INEI’s wholesale price index.

The sworn declaration: HR and PU

Article 14 requires a sworn declaration (declaración jurada):

1. Every year, by the last business day of February, unless the municipality extends it.
2. When there is a transfer, or when the property changes and the change is worth more than 5 UIT (S/ 27,500): by the last business day of the following month.
3. When the municipality orders it for all taxpayers, within the deadline it sets.

If the municipality updates the value of your properties and sends it to you, that update replaces the annual declaration. It is treated as valid if you do not object within the deadline for paying in full.

The most common forms are the HR (hoja resumen, summary sheet) and the PU (predio urbano, urban property). An official note from SAT José Leonardo Ortiz explains them this way: the HR gathers the details of all your properties and the PU describes each property. For rural land there is the PR (predio rústico).

After a purchase, only the buyer declares. Article 11 of Decreto Legislativo 1246 provides that the declaration for a transfer is filed only by the buyer, and that with it the municipality automatically removes the previous owner. SAT Lima adds that the seller may still file a voluntary discharge (descargo).

Two official sources disagree on the buyer’s deadline. Article 14 of the law says: by the last business day of the month after the transfer. SAT Lima’s page on gob.pe (updated 4 August 2026) says the new owner «podrá declararlo hasta el último día hábil del mes de febrero del año siguiente» (may declare it by the last business day of February of the following year), and at the same time recommends doing it before the last business day of the following month. Confirm the deadline with your municipality.

If you do not declare on time. SAT Lima states a fine of between 15% and 100% of the UIT (S/ 825 to S/ 5,500), with reductions of 90%, 80% or 70% depending on when you pay. If your property is outside the Cercado de Lima, confirm the amount with your municipality.

Pensioners and older adults: a 50 UIT deduction

Article 19 lets a pensioner deduct 50 UIT (S/ 275,000) from the tax base if all of this applies:

• they own a single property, in their own name or the marital partnership’s, and live in it (an extra parking space does not remove the benefit);
• their gross income is only their pension;
• that pension is no more than one UIT a month (S/ 5,500).

Using part of the property for a business or profession, with the municipality’s approval, does not cancel the deduction.

Ley 30490 extended the same deduction to older adults without a pension who own a single home and whose gross income is no more than one UIT a month. SAT Lima applies this benefit to people aged 60 or over on 1 January of the year.

If the valuation is above 50 UIT, tax is paid only on the difference. SAT Lima notes that the issuing fee (derecho de emisión) is still payable.

Arbitrios: a different charge

Arbitrios are not property tax. SAT Lima defines them as fees for street cleaning, parks and gardens, and local security (serenazgo), approved by an ordinance that sets the amounts. In the Cercado de Lima the owners pay them, whether or not they live in the property. They are monthly and collected quarterly. SAT Lima gives a 5% discount if you pay the whole year in full before the first quarter falls due. Outside the Cercado, check the amounts and discounts with your municipality.

If you are buying or selling

Before signing, get the copia literal from Sunarp to see who owns the property and what charges are registered against it. Also read how arras work when buying a home. A purchase also pays the Impuesto de Alcabala (property transfer tax), which you can estimate with the alcabala calculator.

Check your case

If you disagree with the property tax you are charged, Property tax and arbitrios: what can I challenge? tells you, based on the document you received, whether it can be challenged, before whom, within what deadline and whether you must pay first.