Pedro Nuno accuses government of ‘fraud and scam’ over tax breaks and asks for an explanation

This Friday, the Secretary General of the PS accused the government of defrauding the Portuguese with “fraud and fraud”, which are tax breaks that amount to about 200 million euros, and asked the Prime Minister to provide an explanation.

In a conversation with the Lusa agency, Pedro Nuno Santos criticized the fact that the Finance Minister explained that the IRS cuts of 1.500 million euros announced by Prime Minister Luis Montenegro ultimately represent about 200 million euros, since they will not be added to more than 1,300 million euros of tax breaks included in the state budget for 2024 and already in force.

“We are faced with a hoax, a fraud, a government deceiving the Portuguese. For several months we have been warning that these measures, that AD’s candidacy is not trustworthy, and this is the first evidence, this is the first moment when this became a reality. clear,” accused the PS leader.

According to Pedro Nuno Santos, “the fiscal shock promised by the PSD did not last a day,” since “of the 1,500 million euros in tax savings announced by Luis Montenegro, 1,300 million are the responsibility of the Socialist Party government.”

“It is serious, disappointing and unacceptable that this happened during the presentation of the government’s program and we now await further explanation from the prime minister,” he said.

For the PS leader, this start to government duties “could not have been worse” and therefore “clarification is required from the Prime Minister about the credibility” of his rule.

“And now to say that in government you don’t campaign in Sao Bento, you have to govern. Unfortunately, that is not what we see and that is why I want to reject and deeply regret what we are seeing at the very beginning of this government,” he charged.

Pedro Nuno Santos has calculated that “the tax savings achieved by the PS government are six times greater than the tax savings achieved by the proposal that the PSD/CDS-PP government will approve next week.

Finance Minister Miranda Sarmento said this Friday that the government’s promised cut to the IRS is “more ambitious” than the measure in force from the beginning of 2024, but specified that it would be around 200 million euros.

In an interview with RTP, Miranda Sarmento clarified that the IRS benefits of 1.500 million euros mentioned by the Prime Minister this Thursday, at the beginning of the debate on the government program, will not be added to the included IRS cuts amounting to about 1.300 million euros. in the State Budget for 2024 and has already entered into force.

The day before, at the start of the debate on the program of the XXIV Constitutional Government, the Prime Minister announced that the government would next week approve a bill to reduce IRS rates to the eighth level, which, according to Montenegro, would represent a total reduction of about 1,500 million euros.

“First, next week we will approve a proposed law that amends Article 68 of the Personal Income Tax Code, introducing a reduction in IRS rates for incomes up to group eight, which will amount to a total reduction of approximately €1,500 million in Portuguese. Labor taxes compared to last year are particularly felt in the middle class,” he said at the time.