2023-06-10 04:00:43
Large businesses that were forced to paralyze or limit their activity due to measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic are getting the Treasury to return what they paid in the Tax on Economic Activities (IAE) for those periods of confinement. In some cases they are significant amounts. A judgment of the Contentious-Administrative Court number 1 of Gijón, to which LA NUEVA ESPAÑA has had access, has forced the Public Entity of Tax Services of the Principality of Asturias to return to the Casino de Asturias company 109,475 euros of the IAE for 2020 both for the periods of closure of activity decreed with the state of alarm as well as for the periods that had a capacity limitation.
The Supreme Court has declared, in two judgments of May 30, that the companies that are dedicated to the hotel and restaurant activity and that had to paralyze their activity -closing their facilities- as a result of the declaration of a state of alarm by the health crisis caused by the coronavirus, can benefit from a reduction in the Tax on Economic Activities -required by the municipalities- proportional to the time in which they suffered this total stoppage. These sentences, originated by cases in Valencia, are already in the possession of the association of hospitality and tourism companies of Asturias, Otea, to analyze their possible repercussions in the region.
However, prior to the pronouncement of the Supreme Court, courts in Asturias already handed down sentences along the same lines after claims from large businesses. It must be taken into account that the IAE is only paid by companies with a net turnover of more than one million euros, so most companies are exempt from payment.
Among those sentences handed down in Asturias, the one of the Contentious-Administrative Court number 1 of Gijón stands out, which forced the Public Entity of Tax Services of the Principality of Asturias to return to the company Casino Bahía de Gijón 109,475 euros of the IAE fees paid in 2020. The On March 1, the Principality’s Ministry of Finance approved a resolution ordering the execution of the sentence after waiving to file an appeal.
The claim.
The owners of the casino –represented by the Oviedo firm Egocheaga & García Gómez Abogados– filed a contentious-administrative appeal after the Public Entity of Tax Services of the Principality of Asturias confirmed the liquidation of the 2020 IAE for an amount of 204,048 euros and rejected the challenge filed by the company. In its appeal, the company argued that the taxable event of the IAE is carrying out an activity and that the prohibition or limitation of the exercise of that activity by the public authorities meant that the taxable event was not carried out. Specifically, he pointed out that during 2020, due to the measures to contain the pandemic, the casino had to close for 144 days and that for another 149 it suffered capacity limitations. For this reason, it required a proportional reduction in the IAE fee, which it quantified at 109,475 euros.
Treasury position.
The defendant Administration requested the dismissal of the appeal, although it pointed out the existence of a report by the Head of the Legal Department of the Public Entity of Tax Services of the Principality of Asturias in which it indicated that the plaintiff’s allegations could be admitted in part, understanding that exclusively in the cases in which it was demonstrated that there was total inactivity, the proportional reduction of the IAE fee could be obtained. In other words, there could be a discount for the closing days but not for the capacity limitation days.
Sentence.
Judge Estefanía López Muñoz, head of the Contentious-Administrative Court number 1 of Gijón, argued in her ruling that “since it was the administration itself that prevented normal activity, it cannot now sustain the origin of the accrual of all the tribute when it does not the taxable event consisting of the mere exercise of the activity has fully occurred”. And regarding the period of limitation of capacity, he pointed out that “if in the total absence of activity the proportional reduction has been admitted, it is also appropriate in the periods in which the activity was partial precisely due to obedience to the various administrative regulations issued by the powers since it has not been possible to establish in an effective and complete way a real wealth that can be taxed”. For this reason, she upheld the contentious-administrative appeal of the casino company and ordered the Treasury to return 109,475 euros, plus the corresponding default interest, and to pay the costs up to the limit of 500 euros. The judgment is final since it was not appealed within 15 days.
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