The JS Secretary General said this Friday that the PS will oppose the Jovem IRS announced by the government if the proposal is not changed and accused the executive of intending to deceive the youth ahead of the European elections.
These positions were stated by Miguel Costa Matos, also vice-president of the PS parliamentary group, at a press conference in which he reacted to the measures approved by the government on Thursday for youth in the Council of Ministers.
In front of journalists, Miguel Costa Matos assured that the PS would take “constructive” action regarding the government’s proposals, but accused the PSD/SDS-PP leader of “legislative plagiarism” and of taking measures with either “limited scope” or “legislative plagiarism.” “or that young people with higher incomes benefit the most.
“On the eve of the elections, this is a program whose goal is to deceive the Portuguese, especially to deceive the youth,” said the leader of the Young Socialists.
Of all the measures announced on Thursday by Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, Miguel Costa Matos rebelled above all against the philosophy inherent in the new IRS Jovem, the partial exemption from IMT and stamp duty.
“The IRS Jovem created by PS has benefited everyone equally. The current Democratic Alliance (AD) government benefits those who have more. Young people who receive up to a thousand euros per month (which is two-thirds of the total) will only receive a benefit of 55 euros per month, while a young person receiving five thousand euros (which is in the eighth group) will receive a benefit of one thousand euros per month,” noted the JS Secretary General.
On IMT (council property transfer tax) and stamp duty, the Socialist leader said few young people would benefit from the partial exemption.
Asked about the direction of the vote that the PS should take in Parliament in light of these government diplomas aimed at youth, Miguel Costa Matos said that the PS panel has been striving for the last few months to improve the measures, as is the case with the initial proposal to cut the IRS comes from the PSD/CDS-PP supervisor and is currently being discussed at the specialty level.
“We will constructively improve the measures presented and ensure they reach more young people. But we cannot support an IRS Jovem extension that is so unbalanced in favor of higher income people,” he warned.
On the part of the PS, according to Miguel Costa Matos, there is a willingness to expand the scope of the IRS Jovem, “but one thing is certain: symbolic measures for people with average incomes and large tax breaks for those with high incomes, so don’t count on on PS because the NHS needs the money, the public schools need it to build student accommodation,” he argued.
At a press conference, the PS Secretary General accused the government of “legislative plagiarism,” recalling that “back on Wednesday, the PS parliament managed to approve a project to expand housing support.”
“The difference is that the government’s measures will only affect families with incomes up to €1,020, while the PS measures will cover those earning up to €2,800, which is the sixth step of the IRS. Accommodation support provided by the government is only half, while PS covers the entire amount. We encountered bad plagiarism,” he said.
Also, according to the SP leader, the SDP/CDS-PP government has been plagiarizing in terms of providing youth hostels for supportive housing and ensuring distribution of menstrual hygiene products.
“It is already operating in several municipalities,” he assured.
Miguel Costa Matos also accused the leader of announcing short-term measures such as strengthening student dormitories “with a program that will not exceed 500 new beds, or a “psychological check” totaling about one hundred thousand consultations.
“If we think about two consultations per year, we can conclude that they will only reach one in ten students in higher education. The PS government had a €14 million program with much greater coverage in terms of mental health.” , he added.