Before a meeting with Lisbon’s Patriarch Cardinal Rui Valério, André Ventura welcomed negotiations on IRS and IRC outside the state budget framework but warned that discussions on the government’s proposal “will not be straightforward.”
When asked whether the situation could mirror last year, where the IRS reduction model was approved with votes from the PS and Chega and opposed by PSD and CDS-PP, Ventura disagreed.
“I don’t think so; if the government shows goodwill, that scenario won’t happen,” Ventura stated, noting upcoming talks with the PSD parliamentary group before the bill’s discussion and vote in parliament.
Specifically, the Chega leader aims for steeper IRS cuts to benefit “those earning less and the middle class.”
“Chega will propose to lower tax burdens on the lower brackets, focusing on those earning less and below the average salary, advocating for a more significant reduction,” he explained.
Additionally, the party seeks an increase in deductions for healthcare and housing expenses.
“If these two goals are also embraced by the government, I would say there are conditions for quickly achieving a fiscal package in terms of IRS and IRC in the coming months,” he added.
Ventura urged the government and the prime minister to reduce announcements and become more open to negotiations.
“The government can’t continue as it has, announcing policies without follow-through. In a democracy, especially without majorities, the government must now negotiate with others, as we were not consulted in this proposed legislation,” he stated.
Ventura reiterated that “Chega wants to lower IRS and IRC,” aiming for these measures to chiefly benefit the middle class and those earning less.
“We need to support those who work and have felt marginalized by the system for decades, not those who have lived off the system for 50 years,” he argued.
The government’s IRS reduction proposal was approved on Wednesday by the Council of Ministers, outlining a further reduction of 500 million euros to be applied this year, with cuts ranging from 0.4 to 0.6 percentage points across the first to eighth brackets.
The announcement was made by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro in a RTP interview, followed by a detailed Council of Ministers statement.
The government’s proposal includes IRS rate reductions of 0.5 percentage points between the first and third brackets, 0.6 points between the fourth and sixth, and 0.4 points in the seventh and eighth.
The statement commits the government to “as closely as possible, match the withheld tax amount to the due amount at the year’s end.”
“Thus, new withholding tables reflecting the IRS rate reduction, retroactive to January, will be approved,” the statement confirms.
