According to the ruling dated 19 February, which Lusa had access to today, the TAF of Mirandela dismissed the legal challenge filed by the concessionaire Movhera against the Tax Authority's assessment that assigned that value to the dam.

Since the beginning of January, this is the third similar decision by the TAF of Mirandela regarding the collection of IMI (Municipal Property Tax) for the Douro Internacional, Miranda and Picote dams, in the municipality of Miranda do Douro, and the Bemposta dam, in the municipality of Mogadouro.

In October 2024, Movhera was notified of the assessment result for the Miranda do Douro Hydroelectric Development (AH) for the purposes of Municipal Property Tax (IMI), with a Taxable Asset Value (VPT) of 111,851,850 euros determined.

Disagreeing with the assessment by the Miranda do Douro Tax Office, the company requested a second assessment, which was conducted in November 2024 and confirmed the original value.

Subsequently, it was notified of the IMI (Municipal Property Tax) assessments issued for the Miranda do Douro Housing Estate between 2020 and 2023.

The company challenged this assessment before the Administrative and Tax Court (TAF) of Mirandela, arguing that a dam cannot be classified as a building for IMI purposes.

However, the court concluded that the Housing Estate is a building for the purposes of determining the VPT (Taxable Property Value) and consequently calculating IMI.

“We have the physical element, which consists of the buildings and constructions incorporated or established with a permanent character; it has the potential to have economic value, regardless of whether or not it produces any income; and it has the legal element, which corresponds to its integration into the appellant's assets until 31/12/2042,” the ruling reads.

The company also argued that the dam's safety and operation structures could not be subject to registration and assessment for IMI (Municipal Property Tax) purposes. However, the TAF (Administrative and Fiscal Court) concluded that these “are to the dam what doors, windows or roof are to a house”.

Contacted by the Lusa news agency, the concessionaire Movhera reiterated that it “does not publicly comment on court decisions”.

The fiscal aspect of dams began to be discussed following the sale by EDP of six dams in Trás-os-Montes (Miranda do Douro, Picote, Bemposta, Baixo Sabor, Feiticeiro and Tua), for 2.2 billion euros, to a consortium led by Engie, with the deal being finalised at the end of 2020.