After arriving at the car `stand´ in a bus, which IL debuted today under the motto "Portugal bigger in Europe? With Cotrim, yes", João Cotrim de Figueiredo considered that the ISV is "perhaps one of the most bizarre and striking examples of what is a discriminatory treatment regarding the application in Portugal of European rules, in this case fiscal rules".

At the end of a conversation with one of the `stand´ managers about the collection of this tax and a short visit to the cars on display, all used, the liberal candidate recalled that Portugal has already been convicted several times in the Court of Justice of the European Union for violating European directives in the application of the ISV.

According to the IL's top candidate, the discount applied to the environmental part must be the same for second-hand cars imported from another country in the European Union, which is not currently the case.

And because the Portuguese State does not apply the European rules that it should, Portuguese taxpayers "end up paying much more for cars than they should", he stressed.

In February 2024, the newspaper Público revealed that the Court of Justice of the European Union considered that the collection of ISV on imported cars violates European rules.

According to the same newspaper, the issue is the amendment to the law, in 2021, proposed by the Government and PS, which began to apply different tables in the collection of this tax.

According to the order cited by Público, the Court of Justice of the European Union declared "that the discount on engine size and the environmental part must be the same for second-hand cars imported from another country in the European Union"

For the first on the IL list, European legislation already exists, it is not being applied in Portugal.

"In fact, I correct myself, it was even worse. Portugal was convicted even before 2021, realized that it could not continue and, then, made an amendment to the law that continues to be illegal, but trying to get through the raindrops, which makes this attempt more criticizable at the expense of what are the prices that people pay for goods to try to maximize tax revenue", he said.

For João Cotrim de Figueiredo, it is important that this "type of stubbornness" of national governments "always very addicted to taxes" does not continue because the only one harmed in the midst of this is the national economy and the people who want to make their living.

"States are addicted to collecting taxes and think they cannot do without this revenue", he stressed.

The liberal candidate recalled that, already in this legislature, the IL raised this issue, with the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, saying that "he would pay attention to the issue".

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