As reported by the press (TE Trasporto Europa, 23.10.15, “Cassazione conferma esonero IMU su magazzini portuali”, Informare, 22.10.15, “La Corte di Cassazione conferma che i magazzini portuali vanno accatastati in E/1 e non è dovuta l’imposta comunale sugli immobili” , Il Piccolo, 28.10.15, “I Concessionari vincono la “guerra”. L’IMU sui magazzini non si paga”, pagina 18 , The MediTelegraph, 28.10.15, La Cassazione cancella l’Imu nei porti ), Zunarelli – Studio Legale Associato has successfully represented two major Trieste port terminal operators before the Corte di Cassazione (the Italian Supreme Court). The Court dismissed the appeal filed by the Agenzia del Territorio (the Italian Land Registry Office) against the judgment issued by the Regional Tax Court of Trieste in 2014 in favour of the terminal operators.
The dispute arose from the terminal operators’ request to classify in the E/1 cadastral category some port warehouses they were holding in concession in the port of Trieste. Following the refusal by the Agenzia del Territorio, an action was brought before the Provincial Tax Court of Trieste. In January 2012 the Provincial Tax Court issued a judgement granting the Firm’s arguments and stating that since port warehouses are entrusted by law “to perform sea and port functions”, they must necessarily be classified in E/1. The Agenzia del Territorio appealed before the Regional Tax Commission of Trieste, which rejected the appeal by means of judgement dated July 2014. Also in the second degree judges’ opinion, port warehouses are “purely functional to the management of transport infrastructures” and should therefore be correctly classified in the E/1 cadastral category. That principle has become final as a result of the judgment issued on 7 October 2015, in which the Corte di Cassazione rejected the further appeal filed by the Agenzia del Territorio, also ordering the latter to bear the costs of the proceedings.
The practical consequences of the final consolidation of the legal principle according to which port warehouses must be classified as E/1 are extremely significant, since properties falling within the E category are not subject to IMU (Italian property tax). In fact, Article. 7, paragraph 1, lett. b) of Legislative Decree 504/1992 provides that, on account of their particular use, buildings that are or may be classified into cadastral categories from E / 1 to E/9, are exempted from paying IMU.
(Trieste Office – Massimo Campailla – 0039(0)407600281)
