LISBON: As Portugal failed to respond to a European Commission request for it to amend its registration tax rules for imported second-hand vehicles. The matter has been referred to the European Court of Justice.
In January 2014, the Commission sent Portugal a reasoned opinion, requesting that the authorities bring the relevant legislation in line with European Union (EU) state aid rules.
Under Portuguese law, the calculation of the taxable value of second-hand vehicles introduced into Portugal from another EU member state does not take into account the real value of the vehicle. No depreciation is taken into consideration before the vehicle is one year old, and no further depreciation is taken into account for vehicles older than five years.
According to the Commission, this may result in the higher taxation of imported vehicles. The Commission says that this conflicts with Article 110 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This article stipulates that no member state shall impose, directly or indirectly, on the products of other member states any internal taxation in excess of that imposed on similar domestic products.
