Municipal Tax Charge

"Who cares, it's affordable anyway". I was told I will be relieved from property tax for 5 or even 8 years, but that wasn't the case, same as you, I had to pay the property tax bill backwards, for the entire year. I suspect someone has paid it twice. Don't forget to gift your local officials for things to go smoother. Give good chocolate or even a bottle of brandy and watch things go much smoother and more smiles. Remember most people in Portugal work for 500€ a month.

Are you a resident, if so, you may be able to benefit from a tax holiday (though too late for 2014).

No, the tax is payable by the owner as of 31 December. At the end of partnership, the new owner will be liable. There is no double counting.

there's gotta be some mistake...it's not making any sense , paying for something you haven't used.

A lot of taxes are like that - one pays it and never uses the services, but there are people who use it, so you're paying for the others and sometimes others are paying for you. Just buy your house at the beginning of the year, I suppose. I was paying school tax while not having any kids. I asked the gov can I not pay and they told me just pay it or we will take your house away. Don't pay a tax and you will find out who the REAL owner of your house is. Seriously, the taxes are needed to maintain the roads and perhaps the atmosphere above us, by spraying the right amount of chemtrails (chemical trails) above us, to make sure there are not too many of us.