The municipality of Miranda do Douro announced this Wednesday that it will ask the Office of the Attorney General (PGR) to carry out a “thorough investigation” into the “illegal conduct of the Tax Administration (AT)” in the assessment of the Miranda and Picote dams located in the county.
“The assessment of dams, which in good faith followed the illegal instructions of the AT, is not an assessment of dams or power generation centers as the law calls them,” Miranda Douro municipal councilor Vitor Bernardo told Lusa.
According to the mayor, the Chamber was notified of the assessed value a few days ago and what was assessed “is not a building but a fiction” since the assessment is only for hydroelectric power plants consisting of reinforced concrete and masonry only. therefore, without the ability to produce energy.
“The structure of the dams was assessed, such as the number of cubic meters of concrete, tons of steel or buildings supporting the power generation center, i.e. all masonry structures.”
Vitor Bernardo noted that “the entire group of energy producers, such as turbines, hydraulic circuits, generators and transformers, as well as other equipment necessary for the production of electricity, were not assessed.”
Disagreeing with the assessment, the municipality filed a complaint this Wednesday with the financial department of Miranda do Douro in the district of Bragança.
“The instructions of the AT hierarchy, which determine the assessment method, directly violate the letter of the law and the consolidated and unified jurisprudence of the Supreme Administrative Court, which establishes that buildings are only structures and equipment capable of generating income,” he said. , stating that the value determined by the assessment “excludes half the tax value of the buildings assessed.”
The councilor warned that when dam concessionaires go to court, “there is a serious risk that the property will not have the economic element, namely the production of electricity, because there is no income.”
The Chamber also ensures that it was notified of the assessment “at the point when it is no longer possible to avoid the expiration of the right to liquidate the Municipal Property Tax (MPT) in relation to 2019.”
“The municipality will demand personal and institutional responsibility for the expiration of this deadline and the corresponding loss of IMI revenue for 2019,” he indicated.
The Chamber of Miranda do Douro ensures that, in due course, it will apprehend, financially and criminally, all agents of the tax administration involved in the commission of these illegal acts and who persist in committing them, despite the public condemnation issued.”
On November 22, the Miranda Land Movement (MCTM) reported that it had handed over a document to PGR warning of possible “signs of crime” in the collection of IMI from dams.
Oscar Afonso, a member of the MCTM, told Lusa that a document warning of “signs of a crime” had also been sent to the Presidency of the Republic, the Court of Auditors and the Inspectorate General of Finance (IGF).
The financial aspect of dams has been in the media spotlight since EDP sold six dams in Trás-os-Montes (Miranda do Douro, Picote, Bemposta, Baixo Sabor, Feiticeiro and Tua) for €2.2 billion to a consortium led by Angie.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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