TUB asks for reimbursement of half a million in road contributions

Transportes Urbanos de Braga (TUB) took action in the local Administrative and Fiscal Court against the Tax Authority and the Ministry of Finance, to try to recover 500 thousand euros paid between March 2020 and the end of 2022, as a contribution of road service.

The objective is to “defend the interests of the company and citizens”.

Teotónio Andrade dos Santos, executive director of the firm, told O MINHO that TUB had already made a request for an unofficial review with the Tax and Customs Authority with a view to recovering the amount supported, as they considered that Law No. 55/ 2007, of August 31, has since been revoked.

On the other hand, the legal department of the municipal company clarified, in this regard, that “the request for unofficial review is based on the illegality of the road service contribution, due to violation of European Union Law and Law No. 55/2007 , following the publication of the Judgment of the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union) of February 7, 2022, delivered in the context of case C-460/21”.

This decision, in turn, was the origin of other rulings by the Administrative Arbitration Center that recognize the right of the end consumer of petroleum products, subject to the road service contribution, to request the respective reimbursement.

Any consumer can request payment

Asked whether or not there was dialogue with the Ministry of Finance of the previous PS government on the subject, the manager clarified that this never happened “since there is massive litigation – on the part of several taxpayers – on this matter and the Authority The Tax Authority does not recognize the illegality of the settlements, nor the right of end consumers, having borne the tax burden, to obtain a refund”.

He highlighted that the problem applies to any person liable for the road service contribution and/or to anyone who has borne the burden of the tax, which in this case is any final consumer of fuel: “Any individual or company has the right to request reimbursement of the road service contribution supported, as long as the procedural assumptions are met, namely legitimacy and enforceability of reimbursement”.