The Associação da Hotelaria de Portugal (AHP) defends the creation of support for workers displaced to housing, proposing to exempt the value from taxes and social security contributions, as is the case with the meal subsidy.
The measure is part of the proposals sent to the government by the AHP in the framework of the public consultation of the “More housing” program and was mentioned by the executive vice-president of this association, Cristina Siza Vieira, in an interview with Lusa.
“Our idea was – just like what is already happening with the food subsidy or with the transport subsidy – that there could be specific support for the housing of displaced workers,” said Cristina Siza Vieira, stressing that this support, which to be supported by companies will have to be exempt “from taxes or social security contributions, whether by the employer or the employee”.
“We would find it very interesting for the companies themselves to contribute to this need for housing,” he said, as this is a measure that takes into account the fact that housing is more expensive and to respond to the mobility needs of employees , for example seasonal influences or production peaks.
For the AHP’s executive vice president, this would be a way of “putting corporations in place of the state here too,” but taking into account the proposed tax benefit.
In its assessment of “More Housing”, specifically on the measures aimed at local housing, the AHP criticizes the fact that they treat this sector without taking into account the different realities of the AN, either in terms of areas or modalities.
Cristina Siza Vieira emphasizes in this regard that on March 9, 1,475 rooms (subject to rental), 30,978 homes, 71,177 apartments and 7,108 accommodation companies were registered, of which 829 ‘hostels’.
“If we take those 7,108 lodging companies out of the 110,738 records, it’s already a reality,” he says, emphasizing that for AHP, these lodgings “should be completely removed from this reality of local lodging because it’s not local lodging,” but rather hotel businesses that are not convertible into homes, so it makes no sense to include them in the same set of LA measures that “More housing” provides.
Source: DN
