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José Pedro Barros, CCA’s Tax Department associate, explained to Jornal Económico the controversy launched by the ‘Chega’ party deputy, André Ventura, about the VAT rate applied to erotic salons held in Portugal.
The application of a reduced VAT rate to these salons was a reality in the recent past when the Administrative and Tax Court of Almada considered that the III Lisbon International Erotic Salon, held in 2007, was of an artistic nature, even though "in the table of reduced rates a budget was in force [until 2012] intended for shows and other public events with the exception of pornographic or obscene shows", clarified José Pedro Barros.
At the time, the Tax Authority appealed this decision to the Central Administrative Court South (TACS), which upheld the verdict of not considering the event as pornographic or obscene. However, TACS warned that this type of event is considered equivalent to a fair, because the purpose of the event is to have exhibitors selling products and services. Even so, "[TACS considered that] it should be considered as a normal fair, whose rate is the normal rate (23%), except that the Tax Authority did not invoke this argument, and as it did not invoke it, the Court could not rule on this issue", explained José Pedro Barros.