AUTOMOBILE TAXES ON USED CARS AND THE PORTUGUESE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT’S FIRST REQUEST FOR A PRELIMINARY RULING
Keywords:
Portuguese Constitutional Court; automobile taxes used cars; preliminary reference; Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.Abstract
The article seeks to analyse the first preliminary reference made by the Portuguese Constitutional Court. It examines the events that led to the legal case and the application of Article 11 of the Automobile Tax Code. This legal precept does not take into consideration the environmental component of a vehicle in the determination of the amount of taxes that should be paid relative to the importation of used cars from another Member State of the European Union. The Arbitration Panel that heard the case did not apply the referred legal norm based on its disconformity with Article 110 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which is applicable in the Portuguese legal order via section 4 of Article 8 of the Portuguese Constitution. The article also considers the fiscal question that is subjacent to the object of the appeal filed in the Constitutional Court. Finally, the authors articulate some considerations regarding the impacts tied to the decision to suspend the case and request a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union, in terms of judicial cooperation, legitimacy, the interpretation of certain norms of the European Treaties, and the legislative alteration that was introduced in the current State budget.
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