On 25 November 2022, Dr Jordi de Juan, lecturer for the UIC Barcelona Faculty of Law and director of the Bosch Aymerich Family Business Chair, was a speaker at the ninth edition of the Law of Ports and Harbours Conference jointly organised by the Tarragona Port Authority (APT) and the Tarragona Bar Association.

Under the title “Some exceptions for corporate taxes and value added taxes in the area of ports and harbours,” Dr De Juan reviewed the legislation applicable to port authorities, according to the legal framework comprising the Law of State Ports and Merchant Marine. Likewise, he made a systematic analysis of the main income they receive and the tax regime applicable thereto, particularly that established for corporate tax and the value added tax.

On the one hand, following the basic lines of action matters affecting corporations, he dealt with these entities subject to tax, as well as to the regime of tax-deductible expenses and deduction for investments made by the port authorities, with special emphasis on the accounting regime established for the state-owned ports and harbours system.

On the other hand, he reviewed the subject-to-tax regime of these bodies in terms of value added tax, with a detailed review of subsidies in the taxable base, not-subject-to-tax cases and the exemption and deduction regime of these corporations.

Other presentations at the conference were given by Daniela Millet Eades and Esther Roca Isart, director and assistant director, respectively, of the area of Ports de la Generalitat, who dealt with the new Urban Master Plan for ports and harbours; José Antonio Morillo-Velarde del Peso, State lawyer, who analysed the use of ports and harbours owned by other public administrations; and Fernando Rius Cánovas, State lawyer, who assessed the of the Transparency Law in the area of ports and harbours.

This conference, celebrating its ninth edition, allows the continuous updating of a very specific subject for professional groups related to Port Law that, as expressed by Josep Maria Cruset i Domènech, president of the Tarragona Port Authority, “is a subject with multiple vectors that go beyond the port area itself with very significant implications in various areas.”