Parliament will debate and vote this Friday on a PCP diploma that would see tax cuts for families and higher taxes for economic groups, with the party saying the fiscal effort is “very badly distributed”.
Talking to the Lusa agency, PCP Representative Duarte Alves argued that there is currently “a problem of fiscal fairness”, with an increasing weight “of taxes on labor and consumption” and at the same time more “tax breaks, exemptions, trap doors” for major economic groups.
“We are currently witnessing in Portugal (…) a huge inequality in the distribution of wealth: the country is growing – economic GDP data shows remarkable economic growth – but this growth is distributed very unevenly,” he continued.
In this context, Duarte Alves believed that fiscal policy, through the “redistributive function of taxes”, should aim for “a greater equilibrium”, easing the burden on workers and exacerbating that of major economic groups.
The PCP therefore proposes to update the specific IRS deduction, which has been frozen at EUR 4,104 since 2010, based on the accumulated inflation since that year, which, according to Duarte Alves, corresponds to a reduction in the taxable base of approximately EUR 800 .
The deputy said so measure would be applied to employees with an income of up to EUR 2,900 gross and referred that, if approved, a taxpayer earning EUR 1,200 gross per month would receive an annual tax credit of approximately EUR 130.
‘Tax effort is very unevenly distributed’
In addition to this measure, and also with a view to tax relief for families, the PCP wants to reduce VAT on energy to 6%, from the current 23%, and apply the intermediate rate of 13% to the telecommunications sector.
With regard to the taxation of major economic groups, the PCP proposes the abolition of the non-resident regime and the tax exemptions provided by the IRS, in addition to seeking to create a tax on transactions to tax havens.
Duarte Alves stated that the PCP does not address “the right-wing demagoguery of saying broadly and in the abstract that there are too many taxes”, but rather defends that the “fiscal effort is very badly distributed” and it is. needed to bring it back into balance.
“There are taxes that should be reduced – those are the taxes that cover the majority of the population – but there are taxes that should be taxed that are not taxed today, namely those that go to the ‘offshore’ havens and to other types of traps that allow for no taxation,” he said.
When asked whether this diploma, if approved, does not violate the braking rule, Duarte Alves emphasized that the PCP has safeguarded this situation by providing in the bill that the measures will only come into effect in the next National Budget, although they can also be applied immediately . if the government so desires.
The PCP deputy opined that given the economic data and the Treasury Secretary’s commitment to relieve the IRS in the next state budget, the executive branch has “room” to implement the PCP measures.
“There is no reason why the PS cannot approve this proposal, finally after discussing it in the specialty and we can see these measures being applied to relieve the vast majority of Portuguese and for the taxation of those who today have these regimes of privilege “, he said. stressed out. .
Source: DN
