Request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal Arbitral Tributário (Centro de Arbitragem Administrativa — CAAD) (Portugal) lodged on 31 May 2022 — NM v Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira

(Case C-349/22)

(2022/C 359/27)

Language of the case: Portuguese

Referring court

Tribunal Arbitral Tributário (Centro de Arbitragem Administrativa — CAAD)

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: NM

Defendant: Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira

Question referred

Does Article 110 TFEU preclude a situation in which a rule of national law, such as Article 8(1)(d) of the CISV [(Código do Imposto Sobre Veículos; Code on Vehicle Tax)], which provides that private vehicles that satisfy certain environmental criteria are to be subject to tax on the release for consumption of motor vehicles ([imposto sobre veículos;] ISV) at a reduced rate of 25 %, remains in force and, under the version of the legislation in force from 1 January 2021 — which is more restrictive than the version previously in force — applies both to new Portuguese vehicles and to second-hand vehicles from other Member States of the European Union which are registered for the first time in Portugal from that date onwards, thereby providing the same tax treatment for those vehicles but giving rise to what could be considered unequal treatment between second-hand vehicles which have been in use for the same length of time and which satisfy the less demanding environmental criteria that previously applied but which do not satisfy the requirements in the new law, under which treatment is dependent on whether (a) they were originally sold and registered in Portugal before the date on which the new version of the law came into force, in which case they will have benefited from the reduced tax rate of 25 %, which is likely to be reflected in the purchase price of second-hand vehicles; or (b) they were registered in another Member State while the previous version of the law was in force and were released for consumption in Portugal after that date, in which case they are subject to tax at the rate of 100 %?