The Tax Authority (AT) made a new attempt to exempt EDP from paying the Municipal Property Tax (IMI) on dams, boycotting the three dispatches of the former Secretary of State for Tax Affairs, Nuno Santos Félix, explained Graciano Paulo, a member of the Cultural Movement of Terra de Miranda (MCTM) which encompasses the municipalities of Miranda do Douro, Mogadouro and Vimioso, in the Bragança district.
This MCTM member’s statement is based on the fact that AT is demanding proof from municipalities of the cost value of equipment and dam construction, adding that these entities have neither the competence to possess nor the power to obtain such information.
Graciano Paulo further added that “this data can only be provided by EDP, which built the dams, and it’s strange that AT hasn’t requested it from the concessionaires, EDP and Movhera.”
According to this MCTM spokesperson, “tax law obliges concessionaires to provide all this information to the Tax Administration and, in case of non-compliance, it has powers to immediately access all of it, so it’s absurd to demand it from municipalities.”
Graciano Paulo also adds that “this assessment will only be valid if it’s based on data provided by the concessionaires, and it will be legally invalidated if it’s based on data provided by local authorities, who legally have no competence in this matter.”
The MCTM considers this behavior of AT “very suspicious” and believes that “it’s not just a serious legal error, but behavior intended to frustrate the collection of IMI from dams.”
“This is the second error of the same type, after AT made the first attempt to evaluate the power plants excluding the equipment, which would lead to the annulment of these evaluations. A tactical scheme with the same end is underway,” concluded Graciano Paulo.
MCTM members also demand that the Government “force AT to comply with the law and also require municipalities to exercise their legal powers of action, as holders of IMI tax revenue,” adding that “they will hold them responsible in case of non-payment of this tax.”
In early July, MCTM warned that the Government could be promoting “a tax blackout” with the change to the IMI code regarding dam assessment.
The Government announced at the end of June that it will create a working group to reach a “technical and structural solution” to change the IMI code regarding dam assessment.
The goal is for this working group to present a solution to change the IMI code in order to establish clear rules for the assessment of hydroelectric developments, explained the Minister of Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento.
In early May, the municipalities of Mogadouro, Miranda do Douro, Torre de Moncorvo and Carrazeda de Ansiães requested the Administrative and Fiscal Court of Mirandela to challenge the assessment made by AT on the Feiticeiro, Baixo Sabor and Foz Tua dams, considering them undervalued.
