Court of Justice 12 February 2026, C-837/24 (Opinion of Advocate General Kokott delivered on 12 February 2026.)

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In this Opinion delivered on 12 February 2026 in Case C-837/24, Advocate General Kokott opines that the Portuguese municipal tax on transfers of immovable property for consideration (Imposto Municipal sobre as Transmissões Onerosas de Imóveis, IMT), including its extension to the indirect acquisition of immovable property through the transfer of at least 75% of the share capital of a property-owning company under Article 2(2)(d) of the IMT Code, does not constitute an 'indirect tax on the raising of capital' within the meaning of Directive 2008/7/EC and is therefore not precluded by Article 5(1) thereof. The AG reasons that IMT's object of taxation is the transfer of the right of disposal over immovable property—not the raising of capital—and that its basis of assessment (the fiscal reference value of the property) confirms this characterisation, distinguishing it from capital duty or stamp duty on securities. The AG further opines that Article 6(1)(b) of Directive 2008/7 is declaratory in nature and confirms that transfer duties, including those levied on indirect changes of ownership through majority shareholdings, fall outside the directive's scope, with the consequence that Article 8 of the directive imposes no limitation on the applicable rate of IMT.AI