The PS is not going to change the Tax Authorities for the time being, but says that alleviating this tax will be one of the priorities of the national budget for 2024. This Tuesday in Tomar. Eurico Brilhante Dias promised that the PS and the government intend to “continue the trend of reducing taxes on work”referring to the discussion on the budget dossier.
“Our IRS deduction options did not start today, but in 2015. If conditions remain the same, the Portuguese will pay two billion euros less today than in 2015,” argued Brilhante Dias, quoted by Lusa. It is the socialists’ answer to the PSD, which has been pushing for a cut in the IRS as a way to help the Portuguese cope with rising cost of living due to inflation. A measure that the Social Democrats have defended as a more effective alternative, in contrast to the reduction in VAT on food, announced last week and implemented yesterday by António Costa. For the PSD, the VAT cut will bring little relief to the pockets of the Portuguese, an idea echoed yesterday by Social Democratic leader Luís Montenegro: “I do not despise this measure, it is very inadequate. It worries me a little that it is instilled in people with the expectation that their condition will be much improved. That will not happen”.
In statements made after a visit to the Convent of Christ, and in response to the many criticisms that the support measures announced by the government last week keep the middle class out, Brilhante Dias rejected this idea. Reiterating the argument already made by the government that data on social security contributions show that the average recorded salary continues to grow, the deputy claimed, referring to the additional 1% increase for civil servants, that “the state, as an employer, has provided only a sign of accompaniment to this sense of appreciation of private sector wages”.
Socialists promise dialogue on housing
On the eve of the approval by the government, at the Council of Ministers next Thursday, of most of the measures of the “More housing” program – which will then go to the Assembly of the Republic – Eurico Brilhante Dias guaranteed availability for dialogue of the side of the socialist bank, remembering that the PS allowed the discussion in the specialty (article by article) of various opposition proposals in this area. That was the case with five projects submitted by the Social Democrats, which the PS made possible by abstaining from voting, about two weeks ago. “That conditions us. From a political point of view, we understand that the absolute majority we have does not prevent us from continuing the dialogue”said the parliamentary leader of the socialist group.
Regarding forced leasing, one of the most controversial measures in the housing plan, Eurico Brilhante Dias refused to answer whether the executive could withdraw, only underlining the argument repeated by the government that forced leasing has been provided for by law since 2014, so it doesn’t imply anything new. And if the proposal has already earned heavy criticism, even from the President of the Republic, the leader of the Socialist Group replies that the head of state “has a defined institutional role that is not determined by parliament”. “Parliament must fully assume its responsibilitymust legislate and conduct a frank and loyal dialogue, from an institutional point of view, with all sovereign bodies,” the deputy and former secretary of state stressed.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has criticized the housing package, in particular the forced rental of vacant properties, which he initially said contained concepts that are not well defined legally. Last week, the president of the republic went further, saying this measure would “benefit from being reconsidered,” putting a non-implementation scenario on the table.
With Lusa
Source: DN
