The Supreme Administrative Court (STA) has ruled that the tower of a wind turbine, being an integral part of the turbine, can be included in the property evaluation for industrial urban buildings, such as wind farms, for purposes of Municipal Property Tax (IMI). The ruling supports the appellant’s stance even though other components like the nacelle, blades, and rotor were excluded from such evaluations.
This decision overturns previous rulings from the Viseu Administrative and Tax Court and the Central Administrative Court of the North, which had previously decided against including wind turbine towers in the IMI evaluation, siding with the wind farm promoters. Both lower courts had classified the turbine towers as “equipment goods” for electricity production, thus not qualifying as industrial buildings, rendering their inclusion in the calculation of the wind farms’ Taxable Patrimonial Value (VPT) as illegal.
Essentially, they concluded that “the tower is an accessory of the wind turbine (similar to the blades, rotor, and nacelle, which the Tax Authority recognizes as such and excludes from the evaluation scope).”
However, STA judges determined that “the wind turbine’s tower, as a constitutive part of the turbine, and the turbine being a component of the wind farm, must be considered a component of the building related, thereby integrating its evaluation.”
“In our view, the towers in question are integral to the wind turbine’s structure, without which the building, namely the wind farm, would not exist,” states one judgment.
The IMI on dams and wind farms has been a contentious issue for years. During a parliamentary session reviewing the State Budget for 2026 (OE2026), the Minister of State and Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, confirmed that the Government will shortly present a bill regarding IMI collection rules for dams.
Reportedly, the upcoming modifications to the IMI Code, guided by recommendations from a panel of experts led by Dulce Neto, presume that renewable energy production sites like dams, wind farms, and solar plants fall under the concept of commercial, industrial, or service buildings outlined in the IMI Code and should be tax liable.
