There were twelve articles up for discussion. Of these, the PS majority allowed only one to survive, from Livre, a resolution (without binding value) that “recommends the government to implement ambitious measures to combat tax evasion, tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning”. But even regarding this text, the PS said it would only partially follow it, thereby distancing itself from the end of the tax regime for non-ordinary residents.
Furthermore, all other texts voted on this Wednesday at the end of the plenary session of the Assembly of the Republic where the topic of tax cuts was discussed by the PS majority.
Five of the pleas came from the PSD – including the resolution recommending to the government a reduction of the IRS by 1,200 million euros in 2023; two others came from the Left Bloc (one to change specific IRS deductions and the other to change the Personal Income Tax Act for non-habitual residents; Chega also presented two bills – one to extend exceptional and temporary measures in response on the increase in fuel prices; and another institution for a “temporary solidarity contribution to the banking sector aimed at financing housing support programs”; and a PCP project (“measures for greater fiscal fairness, aimed at easing taxes on work and the consumption of essential goods and an end to regimes of privileges for large fortunes and profits”) and another from the PAN (“adopts an interim update of the IRS levels to cushion the effects of inflation”).
Jamila Madeira, from the PS, justified the decision to reject almost all pleas by saying that the PSD’s initiative to schedule this debate merely “a new stage in the race for sound bytes to the right” – and this “instead of promoting a serious and constructive discussion in the interests of the country”.
The Socialist lawmaker recalled that Parliament has only 20 days left to start discussing next year’s state budget (OE2024). “Twenty days in which the PSD claims the urgency of bringing forward the debate on taxes, but then, in practice, surprisingly enough, only discusses proposals that, like the 2024 state budget, should only take effect from January 1 be included. 2024.”
Earlier, the leader of the Social Democratic Bank, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, had made another appeal: “Given the fiscal waste, this debate is the last chance for the socialist majority to tell the country whether or not they want to cut taxes. in 2023. Will the PS accept tax cuts or not, thus stopping politics?” The PS’s response was that almost everything failed. The discussion will continue when OE2024 reaches AR.
Source: DN
