The chairman of the PSD bank reiterated in Ponta Delgada on Wednesday that “it makes perfect sense” to lower the IRC for businesses, as championed by Economy Minister António Costa Silva.
On the sidelines of the PSD’s first interparliamentary meeting in the Azores, Miranda Sarmento recalled that in 2014 the PSD in government and the PS in the opposition signed an agreement allowing the reduction of the IRC from 25 to 21% and that they reduce one to 17%. “The PS, when it came to power, broke the agreement and even increased the tax,” he stressed.
The economist defended that “it is necessary to continue to lower the corporate tax burden by a few percentage points”, but admitted that “it is not known whether the government wants that or not”. Indeed, the Finance Minister, Fernando Medina, on Wednesday, after the Economy Minister came forward to defend this cut, referred any tax changes for companies, namely at the level of the IRC, for negotiations with the social partners.
Miranda Sarmento, who labeled António Costa Silva as “well-intentioned”, believed his “authority has been diminished” after being rejected several times, either by the prime minister or the finance minister.
“This is a matter currently being negotiated in good faith, with an open mind, dialogue and respect for the partners at the negotiating table and not in the public square,” Fernando Medina said in statements on the sidelines of the 7th Congress. by Certified Accountants, which takes place between this Wednesday and the 23rd at Altice Arena, in Lisbon.
When asked whether tax changes in the National Budget for 2023 (OE2023) are excluded, the official said that “they are not”, but emphasized that “they are in open discussion with the social partners”.
“It is premature to anticipate which, where, on what scale, for what duration,” he said, adding that “the government does not negotiate in the public square”.
After the Economy Minister, António Costa Silva, defended that a cross-cutting corporate tax cut for all companies would be “an extremely important signal for the entire sector” and “extremely beneficial” in light of the current crisis, Medina said. prefer to refer a position to the end of negotiations.
“In this issue of the IRC, as in all matters of the agreement, the government has a voice. The voice that is collectively defined, the voice that is the prime minister, the voice of the ministers who participate in a negotiation,” he said. . said, adding: “In any case, I will reserve myself to talk about it before the end of the negotiations”.
Source: DN
