Portugal updates
Corporate Tax
Landmark decision on holding companies' VAT deductions
- Portugal
- 27 September 2019
The Arbitral Court recently issued a landmark decision regarding value added tax (VAT) deductions for holding companies. The court's approach is notable for its analysis of European Court of Justice guidance on VAT deductions for holding companies set out in several relevant decisions and its innovative approach of combining the relevant reasoning behind these decisions to provide a comprehensive legal overview.
Constitutional Court decisions reassure corporate taxpayers
- Portugal
- 10 May 2019
In a time when corporate investment is struggling with the legal uncertainty deriving from systematic changes to the Portuguese tax system, the Constitutional Court has an important role in reassuring corporate taxpayers that the most basic constitutional principles are respected, thus protecting their investments. Three recent cases brought before the court were ultimately decided in favour of the protection of the legitimate expectations of investors and the judicial interpretation and application of the law.
Court rules on depreciation and amortisation of submerged lands within concession agreement
- Portugal
- 22 February 2019
The South Administrative Central Court recently discussed the problem of the admissibility, for accounting and tax purposes, of the depreciation and amortisation of submerged lands within a concession agreement between a company and the Portuguese state relating to the use of a public hydro domain for watering and hydroelectric exploitation. The court concluded that no contradiction existed between the applicable accounting and tax rules.
Taxation of standard software – an overview
- Portugal
- 16 November 2018
The Portuguese Tax Administration recently concluded that payments received for the sale of 'standard software' (ie, software not subject to any customisations) do not fall within the scope of Article 12 of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Model Convention. Instead, the right to tax income deriving from such payments falls within the purview of the beneficiary of such payments' state of residence under Article 7 (business income) of the OECD Model Convention.
Energy & Natural Resources
2019 Budget Law Proposal – implications for energy sector
- Portugal
- 19 November 2018
The government recently presented its 2019 Budget Law Proposal, which includes several measures for the energy sector. As per the proposal, energy sector extraordinary contributions will be levied on generators operating renewable energy power plants licensed under the guaranteed remuneration scheme, which to date had been exempted from paying such contributions.
Insurance
Processing personal health data for insurance purposes under GDPR
- Portugal
- 15 October 2019
The recently published act to transpose the General Data Protection Regulation into Portuguese law was expected to provide specific grounds for the processing of health data for insurance purposes. However, the act was approved without any exemptions or provisions regarding the legitimate basis on which insurers can process health data (or any other special category of data) for insurance purposes. This article examines the implications of the new law for the insurance industry.
Insurer's subrogation right – statute of limitation period
- Portugal
- 22 January 2019
A recent Portuguese Supreme Administrative Court jurisprudence uniformising decision held that the statute of limitation period of an insurer's subrogated right had started only when it had paid the damages incurred by the insured due to a motor accident. The decision is a relevant milestone in administrative jurisprudence, as there are divergent opinions in this regard.
Portugal Finlab – innovation hub for insurtech
- Portugal
- 06 November 2018
The Portuguese insurance regulator recently entered into an agreement with Portugal Fintech – a network focused on start-ups that connects fintech founders, investors, academics, consultants and legal advisers – to establish Portugal Finlab. From an insurance regulatory perspective, Portugal Finlab will be a useful tool to ensure an appropriate balance between innovation and consumer protection in the insurance sector.
Intellectual Property
Contributed by BMALisbon Court of Appeal finds that BELCANTO is a "trademark with a reputation"
- Portugal
- 22 July 2019
The Lisbon Court of Appeal recently found that the trademark BELCANTO, used by the Belcanto restaurant in Lisbon, was a "trademark with a reputation" and another party's application to register the trademark to sell wines. The judgment shows that Portuguese case law is departing from the mere quantitative parameters of assessing the reputation of a trademark to focus on the relevance of a mark's national and international recognition.
New Industrial Property Code enters into force
- Portugal
- 15 July 2019
The new Industrial Property Code recently entered into force with a number of amendments resulting from the implementation of the EU Trademark Regulation. Most of the changes represent a real break with the previous legal framework. The main changes concern trademark registration, the scope of rights conferred by patents and limitations on the subject matter of utility models.
IP Court grants SPC for second medical use
- Portugal
- 23 February 2015
The IP Court has granted a supplementary protection certificate (SPC) for a second medical use, despite the existence of a previous SPC for the same product and the same basic patent, and contradicting the practice of the Portuguese Patent Office. The decision illustrates the harmonisation of Portuguese jurisprudence with European Court of Justice jurisprudence on SPCs.
