Catalonia's High Court suspends Barcelona's 'Amazon Tax' on delivery companies

Catalonia's High Court (TSJC) has suspended the "Amazon Tax" for online commerce delivery companies passed by the Barcelona city council in February 2023. 

The E-Commerce Delivery Tax, also known as the Amazon Tax, was created to be applied on the distribution companies that deliver online-bought products to the buyer's home. 

The tax was implemented with the aim that big companies, only the ones that have more than €1 million in gross income, would pay for the "intensive use" they make of the public space during their delivery and the parking on the loading and unloading areas.  

The city council approved the law in February 2023, and it came into effect a month later, after the then-mayor Ada Colau reached a deal with councilors for Esquerra Republicana party in December 2022.  

Shortly after, the business group for logistics and transport UNO appealed, which the court has now accepted.  

UNO considered that the tax infringed the free circulation of goods principle, the digital single market, secret of communications as well as various legal provisions of the Spanish Constitution, and the universal postal service law.  

In addition, the business group considered that using the money collected from taxes to aid local businesses is an "illegal state aid". 

On Tuesday, Catalonia's High Court stated that, as UNO presented, the tax infringed the free circulation of goods principle because it was a toll of 1.25% on the income of postal companies, and not on the use of loading and unloading zones which is free for other distributors.  

The court also mentioned that the law was imposing a "double tax on transport's economical activities, identical to the taxes on the acquisition of income from business activities." 

In addition, the High Court added that if the aim is to reduce the use of these parking zones in the city, the same taxes should be applied to other vehicles that can use these public areas with the same intent.  

The High Court's decision can be appealed, and it has a particular vote against the ruling. 

The judge Isabel Hernández Pascual considered that the tax is properly applied and estimated according to each postal companies' gross income.  

In addition, she added that the use of public space that e-commerce delivery trucks make is "unsustainable for the environment and collapses the city's traffic.  

After Catalonia's High Court decision, Barcelona's city council has announced that they respect the court's decision but they still plan to appeal it. 

At the same time, the council is also working on changing the law to still manage to regulate this activity through the intensive use of the public space that delivery companies do.