PS Madeira wants to cut all IRS levels by 30% in the 2024 budget.

PS/Madeira will present a proposal to amend the autonomous region’s budget for 2024, which would include a 30% reduction in all IRS levels, the party’s regional leader Paulo Cafofo said today.

“We hope that the regional government will be receptive, but we are also going to test the position of the various parties, even the opposition parties, on proposals that are aimed at improving the lives of the people of Madeira and Porto Santos,” he explained.

Paulo Cafofo, speaking at a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Funchal, recalled that the Regional Finance Act allows for tax cuts of up to 30% in the autonomous regions, and that is why the Socialists defend its application at all levels. Income tax (IRS).

In Madeira, the tax differential already applies to the first four groups and, according to the 2024 budget proposal presented by the Social Democratic minority executive, it will also cover group 5, retroactively to January.

The regional budget proposals amounting to €2.195 million and the Investment Plan for 2024 with a budget of €877.9 million will be debated in the Legislative Assembly from Wednesday to Friday, with a vote on them taking place on the last day.

The leader of PS, the largest opposition party in Madeira, said the executive could extend the tax difference to all levels of the IRS, taking into account the tax revenues collected over the past three years.

According to Paulo Cafofo, the region’s revenues have increased by 844 million euros over the past three years, and last year alone, tax revenues grew by 19%, with the executive collecting 1,200 million euros.

“The latest data, as of April this year, shows that the effective revenues of the regional government have increased by 21%,” he said, and then stressed: “It’s time for the regional government to give credit to those who work, because when we talk about the IRS, we are talking about a tax on labor, a tax that means income for families and thus can also stimulate the economy.”

The PS/Madeira leader stressed that the IRS “is crushing the incomes of families, especially the middle class, and is affecting the competitiveness of companies, which is why he considers it necessary to apply the tax differential at all levels, starting this year.

“This is all a question of political choice, this is all a question of political will on the part of the regional government,” he warned.

Paulo Cafofo also stated that the budget presented by the Social Democratic Executive, led by Miguel Albuquerque, is “below the needs” of the Madeiran people, and explained that the direction of the party’s vote will depend on the degree of receptivity to the amendment proposals that will be presented during the debate.