The president of the Porto Commercial Association (ACP), Nuno Botelho, defends that the State Budget for 2022 (OE2022) should prioritize economic recovery and promote the solvency of companies, reducing the tax burden, namely the IRC.
“As president of the Porto Commercial Association and as a businessman, observing the difficulties that various activities are going through, I believe that the next State Budget should give priority to economic recovery, supporting the solvency of companies, promoting investment, maintaining jobs of work, competitiveness and exports”, says Nuno Botelho in a written note sent to the Lusa agency.
For the ACP, “the reduction of the tax burden on companies is particularly relevant, namely in terms of IRC and with priority given to the sectors most affected by the pandemic crisis, such as tourism, export industries or non-food trade”.
“IRC relief, accompanied by other fiscal measures, would be a very important signal for economic recovery, capable of stimulating private investment, creating a climate of greater confidence in companies and improving their competitiveness”, he considers.
In Nuno Botelho’s opinion, this “is a measure that will also have positive effects in terms of job creation, as it calls on entrepreneurs to reinvest the organizations’ profits in improving available resources and increasing productivity”.
“Over the last 20 years, the country has experienced very low levels of economic growth, being surpassed in this indicator by most European partners, including the most recent member countries. Measures such as the reversal of the 2014 IRC reform also contributed to this anemic growth continuing and created a climate of distrust in those willing to invest”, he says.
Considering that “Portugal cannot continue on a path of fiscal persecution against those who do business, as happened in recent years, in which it was one of the European countries that increased the most direct and indirect taxes on companies”, the ACP argues that “ entrepreneurs and investors lack stability, predictability and encouragement in this matter, in order to be able to invest in the development of their projects”.
According to the new Budgetary Framework Law, the proposal for OE2022 has to be delivered to parliament by October 10th (instead of October 15th, as happened in previous years). As an official source at the Ministry of Finance told Lusa, taking into account that this year, October 10th is a Sunday, the OE2022 proposal will be delivered on the following working day, that is, on Monday, the 11th .