Supreme Administrative Court upholds CJEU ruling in case advised by Abreu Advogados
On 17 October, the Supreme Administrative Court (STA) put an end to a long-standing divergence of interpretation on stamp duty, in accordance with the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of 20 June 2024 in Case C-420/23. On the basis of the request for referral, the STA standardised its case law, ruling that Article 7(2) of the Stamp Duty Code (CIS), in its versions prior to Law no. 12/2022 (OE 2022), does not apply to stamp duty. By restricting the exemptions provided for in points h) and g) only to cases where the creditor – and not the debtor – has its registered office or effective management in another Member State of the European Union or in a country with a double taxation treaty with Portugal, it constitutes a violation of the freedom of movement of capital in accordance with Article 63 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
It should be remembered that Abreu Advogados advised Faurécia – Assentos de Automóvel on this case, and this ruling followed several favourable arbitration decisions by the independent law firm. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in favour of Faurécia – Assentos de Automóvel in a dispute relating to stamp duty on short-term treasury operations, in what is the first historic agreement on this matter by the Court of Justice.
The firm was advised by partner Maria Dulce Soares, by honorary partner Miguel Teixeira de Abreu, and by contracted partners Mariana Gouveia de Oliveira and Susana A. Duarte.
