Abreu Advogados wins wind farm tax valuation case

Abreu Advogados has represented energy producers who successfully challenged the legality of the property tax valuation (Valor Patrimonial Tributário) of a wind farm. The Administrative and Tax Court of Viseu has annulled the valuation act, determining that the wind turbine towers are energy production equipment, not buildings or structures.

The Court’s decision

The court’s decision has sided with the energy companies, agreeing that the wind turbine towers are equipment for producing electricity and not buildings or structures. Therefore, they do not fall under the concept of a building for Municipal Property Tax (IMI) purposes. The court has concluded that any interpretation allowing the taxation of these equipment pieces would directly contradict the provisions of the IMI Code and violate the constitutionally enshrined principles of property taxation. As a result, the property tax valuation that included the value attributed to these equipment pieces has been annulled.

The advisors’ team

This decision was handed down last week in a case where Abreu Advogados partners Maria Dulce Soares (pictured left) and Alexandra Courela (pictured center), along with consultant Natacha Reinolds Pombo (pictured right), have represented a group of renewable energy companies. The case has contested the legality of the tax valuation act imposed by the Tax and Customs Authority.