The CIP said on Tuesday it is available for salary increases above the 4.8% agreed in the Social Consultation in exchange for measures that allow greater wealth creation, without providing many details about what is at stake.
‘What have we been doing all morning [hoje] started working on very concrete measures and if these measures are implemented, there is the possibility of increasing salaries, perhaps to a level higher than stated in the income agreement [4,8% em 2024]”, said the President of CIP – Portuguese Business Federation, Armindo Monteiroto journalists, at the end of the meeting with the Ministers of Labor, Finance and Economy, which also included officials from the central union UGT.
At today’s meeting, the CIP presented what it calls the ‘Social Pact’, a document containing proposals for the country in various areas (taxes, income, housing, social security, healthcare), including the 2024 state budget.
According to the ‘boss of bosses’, to enable salary increases it is necessary to ‘create wealth because companies do not have infinite capacity’so “Portugal will have to choose whether to put more money into the pockets of the state or into the pockets of the Portuguese”.
“Our measures are aimed at putting more money in the pockets of the Portuguese,” he said after leaving the meeting in Lisbon.
When Armindo Monteiro was asked about the proposals to reduce the tax burden on companies, especially by lowering the corporate income tax (IRC), he did not respond directly. He considered this important, but preferred to focus on the fact that the CIP defends the reduction of taxes on private incomes. (IRS).
“For us the IRC [imposto sobre o lucro das empresas] being important is not the basis. For us, the IRS is very important, that more money comes on the side of the families, we have taxes from the rich in a poor country,” he said, adding that he also sees “this concern” on the part of the government saw.
Armindo Monteiro spoke about CIP’s proposal to apply the 6% VAT rate to all food products, a proposal that has been known since July.
Regarding the reduction of the single social tax (TSU), Armindo Monteiro said that the CIP “did not ask for a reduction in the TSU that would allow companies to save”, but that it “proposed to analyze labor costs”, without offering any explanation to give. well what is this about.
Last week, Finance Minister Fernando Medina ruled out the possibility of a reduction in the TSU as proposed by employers’ federations, saying the measure conflicts with the objective of social security sustainability.
The general secretary of the UGT told journalists that during the meeting “there was a lot of discussion about taxes for companies” and said that for the central union, in terms of tax burden, “it is important that there is a significant reduction in the tax burden.” at the IRS, impacting families, especially the middle class.”
‘We won’t agree with everything, but it is a working document [o da CIP] which will have our attention and our contributions to improve if necessary and fit into the privileged forum that is Social Dialogue,” he said.
Also for the CIP, the chairman said that the employer defends a “reformulation of social security” in the long term and a structural reform of the tax system.
“The VAT law was created in 1986, the IRC and IRS codes date back to 1989, and successive state budgets have distorted these codes. Today it is necessary to talk about the entire tax structure and understand whether the rules for the economy defined at that time still exist. and we don’t think so. Therefore, in determining the taxable amount, what is illegible or not illegible, this is a finer discussion that has to do with the need to think about the tax system for the entire economy,” he argued.
Armindo Monteiro argued that today “tax revenues are mainly focused on labor costs” and that today “modern economies are finding other ways to finance social functions without only sacrificing labor.”
At the end of the meeting, on the government side, only the Minister of Labor, Ana Mendes Godinho, spoke, saying only that the CIP’s proposals were known during the meeting and that work will continue, including measures that may already be are included in the meeting. the State Budget Proposal for 2024. The Minister stated that this is the time for the government to listen to the various partners and then ‘balance’ the budget proposal.
Despite their participation in the meeting, Finance Ministers Fernando Medina and Economy Ministers António Costa Silva did not make any statements to journalists.
On October 10, the government will present the proposal for the state budget for 2024.
Source: DN
