Chega asks Ombudsman to assess legality of income support order

On Wednesday, Chega said she had applied to the Ombudsman with a request to “urgently give” an opinion on the “constitutionality and legality” of the Finance Ministry’s dispatch on rent support and appealed to the government on this issue.

“Today we made a presentation to the Ombudsman [Maria Lúcia Amaral] so that he may evaluate the Government’s instructions regarding rent support and may propose to the Government the immediate abolition of this internal administrative direction. Internal directives from the Treasury cannot break the law, and that is what this is about,” Chega President Andre Ventura told reporters in Parliament in defense.

Diário de Notícias and Dinheiro Vivo reported this Wednesday that the internal finance order amended the relevant decree-law to reduce rent support.

Ventura added that “Those who expected rent support will receive less than they expected, not because the law says so, but because of a recalculation set by the Secretary of State for Revenue.”

“It’s illegal, it’s unconstitutional, and we hope the Ombudsman makes that clear even in the recommendation she makes to the government,” he said.

In a submission circulated by the party in the press, Chega asks for “an urgent opinion” from the Office of the Ombudsman “for the purpose of assessing the constitutionality and legitimacy of this June 1st order by His Excellency the Secretary of State.” for taxes.”

Chega also sent a series of questions to Finance Minister Fernando Medina, wanting to know “what are the specific reasons behind issuing this order and why he made illegal changes to the discipline” of the March 22 ruling.

“Does the Minister of Finance know about the very serious implications of this order for Portuguese families, already under such pressure from the current inflation and the current economic context?” asks Chega’s parliamentary group, which also wants to know what “concrete measures” the executive intends “to take steps to change this situation with a view to revoking this order and therefore restoring this support to Portuguese families.”

PAN spokesman Inés Sousa Real said it was “unfortunate that in the context of so many hardships for Portuguese families, whether it’s rising costs of living, inflation, interest rates, changes have been made to the calculations that will leave more families behind.”

“And again we see that the state always keeps abreast of those who need it most,” he criticized.

Livre’s sole deputy, Ruy Tavares, also expressed concern about this, arguing that the government “should return to the formula for calculating rent support, starting to take into account the tax base, and not gross income, as in the new calculation that the Ministry of Finance announced.”

Rui Tavares considered the decision in question to be immoral: “This is an announcement of something to the people, people counting on support, many desperate (…) think that the balloon is finally arriving and this balloon is barely giving them a chance to breathe at last right again.”

Diário de Notícias and Dinheiro Vivo reported this Wednesday that a dispatch from the Internal Finance Department, signed on June 1 by Secretary of State for Taxation Nuno Felix, instructed the Revenue Office (AT) to reduce the calculation of rent support for tenants. with an annual income of up to 38,632 euros relating to 2021 and with an effort rate equal to or greater than 35%, changing the criteria provided by law and determining the reduction in rent support.

According to the news, the services are considering gross income and alimony instead of a tax base that dictates a lower exemption or exemption, avoiding increasing the impact of the measure from 240 million to 1 billion euros.

The Department of Housing announced on Monday that the monthly income support subsidy, in place since May, will begin to be paid on that date to approximately 150,000 families retroactively from January.