The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs will represent the government on Wednesday in the urgent debate requested by the PS on the IRS cut announced by the Prime Minister, which has generated an exchange of accusations between the opposition and the executive.
A source from the Parliamentary Affairs office told Lusa that the Finance Minister, who the Socialists had said they wanted to see in parliament to clarify the issue, had traveled to Washington to take part in a meeting of the International Monetary Fund that had already been scheduled.
In the absence of Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, it will be the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Pedro Duarte, who will intervene in the debate on behalf of the government, accompanied by the Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs, Cláudia Reis Duarte, according to the same source.
The announcement about tax relief was made by Luís Montenegro at the start of the debate on the program of the XXIV Constitutional Government last Thursday.
"First of all, next week we will approve a bill that amends article 68 of the Personal Income Tax Code, introducing a reduction in personal income tax rates on income up to the eighth bracket, which will make up an overall reduction of around 1.5 billion euros in taxes on Portuguese workers compared to last year, especially felt in the middle class," said the Prime Minister.
A day later, Finance Minister Miranda Sarmento clarified that the 1.5 billion euros of IRS relief would not be added to the approximately 1.3 billion euros of IRS reduction included in the State Budget for 2024 and already in force.
Speaking to Lusa that day, PS Secretary General Pedro Nuno Santos accused the government of misleading the Portuguese with the "hoax and fraud" represented by the tax relief that turns out to be around 200 million euros, criticism reiterated by the entire opposition.
On Saturday, in a statement, the government considered it "true and indisputable" that the reductions in personal income tax will lead to a cut of 1.5 billion euros compared to 2023 and argued that further reductions in personal income tax rates would be "budgetary irresponsible".
The PSD's parliamentary leader, Hugo Soares, said that the Prime Minister "didn't lie" and was "crystal clear", but the PS has asked for an urgent debate to be scheduled in parliament this Wednesday with the Minister of Finance on this issue.
"This is so serious that the PS will immediately file an urgent debate to be held in the Assembly of the Republic next Wednesday, at which we are counting on the presence of the Minister of Finance, and we are certain that he will not shy away from providing all the clarifications that are well owed to the Portuguese and to parliament," Alexandra Leitão announced to journalists on Saturday.
On Monday, in Madrid, Luís Montenegro refused to "go into depth" on the IRS proposal and referred to the moment when it is approved by the Council of Ministers, on Friday, stressing that he governs to fulfill electoral promises and not to "open the news".
