Lisbon, July 18, 2025 (Lusa) - The State will return around €200 million to banks for the additional solidarity tax, which the court declared unconstitutional, according to a source linked to the case.
This involves around €179 million that banks paid since 2020, plus interest.
Diário de Notícias reported this news on Friday. When contacted, an official source from the Ministry of Finance offered no comment on the amount to be returned or when it will be paid.
In June, in plenary session, the Constitutional Court declared the additional tax on banks unconstitutional, considering that it violates, among other things, the principle of tax equality and tax capacity.
The ruling, to which Lusa had access, considers the rules that justify this tax as a way of compensating for the VAT exemption on credit transactions to be unconstitutional; the ruling also identifies the entities on which this tax applies and specifies the basis for its levying.
In June, the Constitutional Court declared the rule regarding this tax, which pertained to its calculation in the first half of 2020, unconstitutional due to its retroactive nature.
The PS Government (led by António Costa) created the additional tax on the banking sector in 2020 during the Covid-19 crisis to finance social security.
The banking sector strongly contested the tax, advocating for an inclusive approach for the financial sector, but the authorities maintained the tax. This year’s State Budget estimated that the tax would yield €40.8 million for the public coffers.
In June, when journalists in Luxembourg questioned him on the subject, the current finance minister said that the government was analysing the decisions to comply with them.
"The government, like any government, complies and will comply with the orders and decisions of the courts, in this specific case, the Constitutional Court on the so-called additional solidarity tax on banks. We are still analysing the ruling, its implications and the impact it will have on the refund of tax paid by banks," said Joaquim Miranda Sarmento.
On the sidelines of the Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg, he pointed out that “part of this tax has been paid.” Still, he acknowledged that “another part, after parties appealed and litigated it, exists only in the form of a guarantee.”
“We have to do all this analysis, and we will comply with the Constitutional Court’s decision,” he said.
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