PSD Approves IRS Deduction for Newspaper and Magazine Subscription Expenses

This Thursday, PSD succeeded in approving a budget amendment that allows families to deduct a portion of the cost of periodic subscriptions to newspapers and magazines, including digital ones, from the IRS by requiring an invoice.

It was because of PSD’s original version of this proposal on Wednesday that Secretary of State for Taxation António Mendonça Mendez expressed his willingness to find a solution that would allow the IRS to deduct newspaper and magazine expenses, pointing out the existence of a “technical impossibility” that would prevent its implementation.

The SDP proposal approved this Thursday – the PKP voted against and Chega, B.E. and Livre abstained—in the meantime, it was reformulated by the Social Democratic bench.

An amendment has been made to an article in the IRS Code that corresponds to deductions made against all or part of the VAT incurred on restaurants, hairdressers, workshops, or transportation expenses.

According to the approved text, it becomes “still deductible from the fee, contributing to the limit referred to in paragraph 1. [250 euros]the amount corresponding to the total amount of VAT paid by any member of the household, which is indicated in the invoices related to the purchase of a subscription to periodicals (newspapers and magazines), including electronic ones, subject to a reduced VAT rate, is reported to the tax and customs authority ” .

Currently, the spending limit for claiming invoices in various intended activities is set at 250 euros.

The PSD proposal clarifies that this deduction applies to periodical subscriptions billed by companies with experience (CAE) publishing newspapers, magazines and other periodicals.

During Wednesday’s debate, SDP MP Carla Madureira justified the proposal by the urgency of “contributing to the strengthening of the national press”, initially intending by the Social Democrats to “purchase a subscription to periodicals up to a maximum of 150 euros”.

“Our readiness in the near future in this legislature to find a solution exists. We cannot follow this proposal specifically, but that is because we do not agree, that is because we cannot put it into practice,” António Mendonça Mendes is guaranteed in response to this debate.

According to the minister, “over the past few years, this topic about the possibility of deducting magazines and newspapers from the IRS has been repeated several times,” noting that the parliamentary group that supports the government is “very loud about this topic,” which is cross .

“What’s the problem with us not having access to it, it’s not because we’re against it, but actually because of a technical impossibility. The e-billing system works based on the information you have from CAE,” he said.

According to Mendonsa Mendez, “In a stationery store, it’s impossible to tell what’s being sold as a newspaper and what’s not being sold as a newspaper.”