Chega defends offline rental tax rate cut

Chega advocates a cut to a 10% stand-alone tax rate on property income arising from permanent home leases to “potentialize the amount of housing on the market, especially for young people.”

The measure consists of a proposal to amend the state budget for 2023 (OE2023), signed by the party led by André Ventura.

In a statement, Chega defends “reducing the stand-alone rental property tax rate as a way to increase the number of homes on the market, especially for younger people.”

According to the party, “this measure could also have a dampening effect on fraud and tax evasion by reducing the incentives for landlords to hide this type of legitimate business from the tax authorities.”

“Now it is important that all parties make concerted and sustainable proposals to address the huge lack of habituation in Portugal, especially in large cities,” he emphasizes.

In a note justifying the proposed amendment to OE2023, “Sufficiently considers that the standalone tax rate should be reduced when it comes to property income arising from permanent residence leases to 10%.”

The party believes that this tax cut “has a triple benefit: combating tax evasion, [já que] more landlords will be encouraged to properly register their contracts and pay the appropriate tax; makes it possible to place more objects on the rental market; and allows landlords faced with rising mortgage payments to absorb some or all of the loss of income.”

The OE2023 proposal was approved by Parliament on Thursday as a whole by an absolute majority of PS deputies, with only PAN and Livre deputies abstaining. The judges of the SDP, Chega, Liberal Initiative, PKP and BS voted against the government’s proposal.

The State Budget Proposal for 2023 is currently being submitted to the Budget and Finance Committee for specialty discussion and then brought to the plenary for a specialty vote and global final scheduled for November 25th.