I. EDITORIAL – NEW REGULATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY LAW

The first month of 2017 was marked, in the legislative area, by some new regulations in the area of employment and tax law, which effects also in the Social Security.

After the raise of the minimum wage, which occurred last month, the Ordinance n.º 4/2017, of January 3, updated the social support index value to € 421,32 (“Indexante de Apoios Sociais”), with effects in several regulations which use this index as a reference, especially regarding Social Security.

It is worth highlighting the Law no. 3/2017, of January 16, which approved a transitory legal framework of option for the joint taxation, regarding the income tax in 2015 declarations delivered after the legal deadline

Finally, the Decree-Law n.º 11-A/2014, of January 17, was revoked by the Resolution of the Parliament n.º 11/2017, of January 27. Therefore, the reduction of the contribution tax from employees towards Social Security will have no effects, while the Cabinet is studying alternatives in order to reduce the tax burden over companies.

In the context of case-law, we would point out the Judgement of the Court of Justice of 18.01.2017, Case C-471/15. This Judgement concerns the interpretation of Article 311 (1)(1) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC, of 28 December 2006. The Judgement decided that article must be interpreted as meaning that used parts, from end-of-life motor vehicles purchased by a vehicle reuse undertaking from a private individual, intended to be sold as spare parts, constitute ‘second-hand goods’ within the meaning of that provision, with the result that the supplies of such parts, effected by a taxable dealer, are subject to the application of the profit margin scheme.

Lastly, it is still worth mentioning the draft law which proceeds to the revision of the legal framework regarding the criminal penalties in the securities sector and its adaptation to the new European framework of market abuse.