Ordinarily, no. The meal allowance assumes the actual provision of work and compensation for the necessity of the worker having to have that meal away from their residence.
During holidays, there is no provision of work; hence, there is no right to meal allowance payment, under the risk of such allowance being considered as remuneration and taxed accordingly.
On Mondays and Wednesdays, an article is published that clarifies doubts and questions about holidays selected by Notícias ao Minuto. Previous articles of the Holiday Special can be consulted here.
The week commenced with an increase in fuel prices, as forecasts indicated. Both diesel and gasoline became more expensive, with the price increase being more pronounced in the case of diesel.
Simple diesel rose from 1.535 euros per liter to 1.602 euros per liter between Friday and Monday, which means an increase of 6.7 cents. Meanwhile, simple gasoline 95 increased from 1.691 euros per liter to 1.715 euros per liter in the same period, an increase of 2.4 cents.
These calculations are based on daily updated average prices from the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology (DGEG).
The Government has promised a tax relief in Personal Income Tax (IRS), and a date has already been set. How will it work? For whom? From when? Notícias ao Minuto has prepared an explainer that clarifies the main doubts, taking into account the information available so far on the subject.
The objective, according to the document, is “to reduce the IRS by 2 billion euros over the legislature, of which 500 million by 2025, reducing the tax burden on incomes, particularly for the middle class.”
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced on Wednesday that the Government’s proposal includes reductions in IRS rates of 0.5% between the first and third brackets, 0.6% between the fourth and sixth, and 0.4% in the seventh and eighth. What impact will this reduction have on your salary?
“This reduction does not cover the ninth and last bracket, and as can be noted from what I just said, it protects the first three brackets, of lower incomes, and recognizes, reinforces the income and remuneration conditions of the Portuguese middle class,” highlighted Luís Montenegro, in a segment of an interview with RTP.
It is “increasingly common” for restaurants to present two payment options for the bill, one including the meal value and another adding a percentage of tip or gratuity. DECO PROTeste states that “service gratuity is not mandatory in Portugal.”
This means that the decision to leave a tip is always up to the customer: “The decision is yours if presented with a bill showing two amounts.”
