ANTONIO PEDRO SANTOS/LUSA
The Minister of State and Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento.
After all, “it is possible” that taxpayers will not pay for the airport. “Something strange is going on” with the BdP’s salary commission and IMT exemption “does not increase the prices” of houses. Minister was heard in parliament.
The Minister of Finance indicated this Wednesday that after all, according to available information, will it be possible build the new airport in Alcochete without direct costs to the State Budget.
At the regulatory hearing at the Budget, Finance and Public Administration Committee, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento was questioned regarding his statements about the possible budgetary impacts of the new airport, to which he highlighted that there is “no divergence between what he said and the Minister of Infrastructure”.
“At the ceremony we had just received the report and I said that the Government would do everything to mitigate the direct budgetary impact if possible”, recalled the minister.
This report “indicates that the concessionaire is available to fully bear the direct costs in the construction of the airport infrastructure”, noted Miranda Sarmento.
Also asked about an article he wrote about the airport, he highlighted that what he said a few years ago was that “it would be difficult to find a solution for Alcochete that did not involve public costs: difficult, not impossible”.
Thus, he indicated that, at this moment, the information that the Government has is that “it is possible to build Alcochete airport without direct costs to the State Budget”.
Now about the reportsaid that it will be made public at the end of this week and then six months of public consultation will begin. From then on, the concessionaire has two years to submit an application, with interim reports planned.
“Something strange is happening”
The Minister of Finance awaits the indication of who will be the former governor to participate in the Banco de Portugal’s salary commission to call a meeting, pointing out that it is strange not meet for 13 years.
“Having been alerted that the commission had not met for 13 years, it seems to me that it makes sense to meet to see the underlying logic and eventually propose measures that may or may not be considered”, reiterated Miranda Sarmento.
This commission is made up of the Minister of Finance, the president of the Audit Council and a former governor. The minister highlighted that he is waiting for the governor Mario Centeno indicate who is the former governor who will participate in the meeting and when you receive this indication you will convene the commission.
Miranda Sarmento also commented that if a commission does not meet for 13 years, it is because “something strange is happening”.
This meeting follows a deal as Secretary General of the Government, which was worth around 15,000 euros, and the former administrator of the Bank of Portugal ended up giving up his position.
The position will be occupied by , former minister of the governments of Santana Lopes and Pedro Passos Coelho, who will receive a salary in accordance with the legal table.
Expenses are growing 10%, but…
The minister confirmed the intention of maintaining the surplus of 0.4% of GDP during the year 2025, at the time when he revealed that the public spending grew 10% during 2024.
“It is in fact a very high value, it will not be repeated in the coming years because it is not sustainable”, said, quoted by Renascença, the former parliamentary leader of the PSD.
ITBI exemption “does not increase house prices”
The Finance Minister said that 16 thousand young people saved 62 million euros when buying a house with the exemption from IMT and Stamp Tax and refused to allow the measure to have an effect on house prices.
Responding to questions from PS deputy Carlos Pereira, who pointed out the warnings that have been made by several agents in the real estate sector and also by the Bank of Portugal about the effect of the measure on rising house prices, Miranda Sarmento rejected this relationship.
“I don’t know of any study that even shows a correlation between the measurement [do IMT Jovem] and the price of housing, let alone causality”stated the minister, adding that he had no indication that there was “any capture of the measure” by those who were selling the houses.
Recalling that the price of houses has been rising for several years, especially in the last four years, in addition to refusing that the measure is causing an increase in the price of houses, he said that without the exemption (total or partial) from Detran and Stamp Tax many of the young people who bought a house would not have done so or would have had to make an additional effort.
The PS deputy also confronted the minister with the tax expense associated with the measure between August and December 2024 in relation to the spending forecast for 2025, and Miranda Sarmento highlighted that with the entry into force of the measure there was “a peak” in purchases “which will not be repeated this year” so that the values already observed do not deviate from the initial forecast for spending on the measure.
The measure, he said, meant that more than 16 thousand young people who saved 62 million euros have already benefited from “this total or partial exemption”.
“Grey Areas” at IRS Young
Miranda Sarmento said that the information regarding IRS Jovem withholding tax could be improved, to dispel any doubts that may exist, admitting that the new regime created “gray zones” for some.
“We will try to place information on the Government website [sobre a retenção na fonte] if there is a need to improve information”, said the minister.
Representative Bernardo Blanco said that the IRS Jovem model that came into force in 2025 meant that they started working earlier compared to those who were delaying their entry into the job market and that they will now benefit from this regime of total or partial exemption from tax on income from dependent and independent work.
Miranda Sarmento admitted that the new IRS Jovem model in force is different from what had been initially proposed by the Government (and which generally involved applying to workers up to the age of 35 an IRS rate equivalent to one third of that in force for the majority of taxpayers) which he classified as “simpler” and “fairer”.
The model that ended up being approved, he said, created “complexity”, but it was what had to be “found for it to be approved by parliament”, which “created gray areas” that will have to be improved.
“Anyone who has been working and has not benefited from IRS Jovem can only benefit from this [regime] from now on. Transitions always generate gray areas”, said the minister.
The Youth Income Tax entered into 2025 with new rules, covering a greater number of people, up to 35 years old, including those who until now were not covered, as the benefit is no longer linked to the completion of study cycles, in addition to become available for 10 years (until now there were five).
In the model now in force, the IRS Jovem includes an exemption of 100% in the 1st year of obtaining income, 75% from the 2nd to 4th year, 50% from the 5th to 7th year and 25% in the remaining three years, with the State Budget law determining that companies must apply the withholding tax rates in force “only to the part of the income that is not exempt”.
Precisely because the value of income exempt from IR varies according to the year of work in which the young person is, he will be the one who informs the company “the year in which income was obtained” so that it can apply withholding on the portion of salary subject to payment of tax.
