Finanças demanded €2,000 in car tax from a car leasing company that no longer owned the vehicles in question. When it came to court the judge found in favour of the company in what may be a landmark ruling.
Finanças was told to return more than €2,000 relating to IUC (car tax) to a leasing company for cars that already had been sold. This decision is sweet revenge for thousands of taxpayers from whom the tax authority has demanded payment of taxes from 2008 despite the cars in question having legally been sold on.
The €2,000 was demanded from the leasing company for 2008 car tax but the company proved that the cars were no longer in its possession and therefore the tax demands were incorrect, a position faced by many bemused individual taxpayers who have elected to pay up rather than have their assets seized by Finanças through the courts.
Between April and June this year 750,000 drivers paid up when faced with demands for back taxes even though many of the cars had been sold or written off. Despite proof of sale and ignoring insurance company statements for write-offs Finanças have so far insisted that it is right and the customer is wrong, well that has just changed.
The rationale used by the company is valid for anyone, according to DECO’s chief lawyer, Ernesto Pinto.
In view of this decision the Tax Authority should issue a circular "clarifying that the tax is not due from the taxpayer if he or she can prove that the vehicle had already been sold," argued the lawyer.
Consumer champion DECO received thousands of complaints about car tax demands and according to Pinto, "by the end of this year we should be getting car tax demands relating to 2009."
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