It concerns a decision of the Secretary of State for Tax Affairs, Nuno Santos Félix, of June 1, which “dispels doubts about what should be included in the concept of annual income and average monthly income” referred to in the decree-law for determining the support.
“The said order has standardized and clarified the application of 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 response to Lusa. , specifying that, “if doubts remain, and for the sake of legal certainty, such clarification will be promoted through legislative means”.
The aforementioned Decree-Law considers as beneficiaries of income support households that are cumulative fiscal residents of Portugal, holders of a rental contract registered with the AT, have an effort percentage with an income of more than 35% and “an annual income equal to or less than the maximum limit of the sixth scale of the table provided in paragraph 1 of article 68 of the Personal Income Tax Code (IRS)”.
The same law, published at the end of March, also states that “for the purposes of the provisions of this Legislative Decree, annual income means the total income for determining the rate charged by the AT in the statement of the IRS of referring the beneficiary to the latest available tax period”.
However, the decision of June 1 mentions “the need to strive, as far as possible, for an equitable treatment of the different types of income, irrespective of the options taken for tax purposes”, and since the DL “refers to a concept of annual income without express legal definition with correspondence in tax law”.
In this context, it clarifies to the AT that “income for determining the rate” should not only take into account the income included and taxed at the general IRS rate” (and which is considered in the aforementioned Article 68.º ), “as well as income taxed at special rates”.
In practice, when calculating the effort percentage, the assignment takes into account the rent and the resulting value of the social assistance benefit, non-compulsory income, such as that arising from renting (if the tenant in turn has a rented home and another has the received corresponding income).
The transmission also clarifies that once the IRS settlement process for 2022 is completed, the value of the aid now allocated (based on the 2021 IRS) will be confirmed, instructing the AT that in communications to beneficiaries of the measure is notified that “the part of the amount of aid received in 2023 that exceeds the amount of confirmed aid […] shall be deducted from the aid payments due in subsequent months”.
Source: DN
