The information was provided by Joaquim Miranda Sarmento in response to the PCP during a parliamentary hearing concerning the detailed discussion of the State Budget for 2026, during which the recent decision by the Public Prosecutor’s Office regarding the sale of six Douro International dams by EDP to the consortia led by Engie was addressed.
The issue of the property tax (IMI) on hydroelectric plants is separate from the transaction in which the Portuguese utility sold to the French consortium of Engie between late 2020 and early 2021.
“There will be a legislative proposal coming to this parliament [about the IMI] very soon,” stated the minister, though without specifying when the executive will act.
In January of this year, the Government of Luís Montenegro formed a task force chaired by Counselor Judge Dulce Neto to define “the terms and conditions for applying the method of the added cost of the land” as outlined in the IMI Code regarding dams, wind farms, and photovoltaic solar parks.
Miranda Sarmento indicated that the team of experts “has already completed its work,” and a legislative proposal will follow.
The civic group Movimento Cultural da Terra de Miranda (MCTM) has been presenting legal arguments in recent years to assert that, under current legislation, energy-producing dams are subject to IMI, whether the six sold by EDP in Douro or any others located across the country that have economic value (i.e., economic activity).
In 2023, the previous government of António Costa ordered the Tax Authority (AT) to settle the IMI of the dams by the end of that year for the previous four years.
In the order from then-Secretary of State for Tax Affairs, Nuno Santos Félix, the executive justified that the Tax Authority (AT) should proceed with the IMI collection, considering the content of a 2006 opinion by the Advisory Council of the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGR) regarding the legal qualification of assets incorporated into the dam concessionaires.
According to the minister, the opinion suggests that buildings and constructions of the dams should be treated as properties, which, in turn, requires the IMI collection from energy production plants.
The current Government believes legislative adjustment is necessary since the evaluation model of the dams has caused doubts and led to tax disputes.
“The evaluation and taxation of electric production centers (namely, hydroelectric plants, wind farms, and photovoltaic solar parks) for IMI purposes have raised several doubts and been the subject of numerous administrative and legal disputes,” notes the Government in the January 2025 document appointing the task force.
The document highlights that the last Secretary of State for Tax Affairs under António Costa’s administration, in another 2024 order, notes that the IMI Code does not detail “the concept of cost for evaluation purposes, which has led to a proliferation of divergent opinions, particularly regarding the elements to be considered in this evaluation.”
