All families with an effort level equal to or greater than 100% are excluded from income support, with a maximum value of 200 euros per month, even if they meet all the eligibility criteria stated in the decree-law creating the measure, according to reports that tenants receive from the tax authorities. However, the government has already guaranteed that these cases will be evaluated later, as the IRS statements filed this year relate to 2022 income. It should be remembered that the declarative campaign ends on June 30.
Given the thousands of inquiries from tenants who have not yet received the subsidy, the Tax and Customs Administration (AT) has already started responding, via the address [email protected]. In an email accessed by DN/Dinheiro Vivo, AT first quotes Legislative Decree No. 20-B/2023 of March 22, which defines extraordinary support, listing all the eligibility requirements for tenants . They are listed in paragraph 1 of article 4 of the diploma. So households that cumulatively “a) are fiscally resident in Portugal; b) hold rental or sublease contracts for their first home, duly registered with the Tax Office (AT)”, according to the same cool text. On these points, the information from the Tax and Customs Administration is in accordance with the law. But then sub c) and d) of the decree will be changed, according to the guidelines of the internal control room Finance, signed by the State Secretary for Tax Affairs, Nuno Félix, on 1 June.
The income to be taken into account is the gross plus income subject to special allowances, such as alimony and rental of real estate, instead of the taxable amount, already after the amortization of the specific deduction of 4104 euros and without income from special allowances, if they are not included. In other words, the bar for calculated income is set high, which dictates lower support or even exclusion from the measure, the DV reports.
The last criterion for access to support has also been formulated differently. Instead of stating that in order to qualify, the beneficiary must have “an effort rate equal to or greater than 35% of its annual income with annual rent payment costs,” as required by law, the AT email states that families have “an effort percentage equal to or greater than 35% (and equal to or less than 100%) of their household income”.
In this notification, the AT concludes that “the conditions to benefit from the aid are not met, given the ratio between earned and reported income for the year 2021 and the amount of the rent”. That is, this tenant was excluded from the subsidy for presenting an effort percentage with a monthly rent payment of more than 100%.
However, the government has already indicated that these matters will be evaluated later. “When the income data sent by the AT and Social Security or IHRU is inconsistent with the data in the leases, which show effort rates greater than 100%, the payment of aid should depend on the verification of that effort rate, at condition that, therefore, given the declared income for the period 2022, in the IRS returns filed in 2023,” said a joint statement from the ministries of Finance, Housing and Labor, which are responsible for administering and granting the aid.
Inspectors and Deco Proteste warn against the illegality of the Financing Decree, namely with regard to the income calculation formula. Sofia Lima, lawyer at Deco, argues that “this situation creates a situation of great injustice because there is no doubt, according to the interpretation of the law, that this should have been considered as the taxable income”. “Taking into account gross income plus income taxed at special rates removes a very significant universe of families that could have received it, in addition to reducing the aid amount.” Deco therefore considers “the shipment to be unlawful, insofar as it is in violation of the law”.
The same opinion is shared by Luís Leon, co-founder of the consulting firm Ilya. “It makes no sense to change a law through an order, because a decree must go through the President of the Republic and an order does not. This is illegal. If the government had wanted to change the conditions of aid, it would have again have to look.” placing the decree” under the supervision of Belém again, the tax expert defends.
Similarly, Ricardo Borges, a partner at the law firm Ricardo da Palma Borges & Associados, criticizes “the interpretation given by Finance regarding the calculation of income”, emphasizing that “income for calculating the rate”, as read in the diploma, “concerning the collectible thing”. For the inspector, “the order is unlawful”.
Faced with this wave of outrage from experts and especially from tenant families who felt disadvantaged, the government already admits to clarifying the decree law. Because the internal rule of the AT alone is not enough and according to several experts it is illegal. “The order has standardized and clarified the application of the extraordinary support, in time to reach the ground when families need it most and assuming no legal limit is exceeded,” the Treasury Department said in a statement. yesterday to the Lusa, specifying, however, that “if doubts remain, and for the sake of legal certainty, such clarification will be promoted through legislation”.
More than 185,000 families receive income support. Of these, about 36,000 have to update their IBAN with Social Security Direct (the amount will be transferred in the payment after the update), and about 20,000 have installments of less than 20 euros, which means that the payment may not have been completed yet, the government has indicated at DN/DV.
Source: DN
