Deco accuses the government of proposing measures for the European Union that it does not apply in the country. The Minister of Finance wants to tax the extraordinary profits of energy companies, but DECO says that the State itself is making profits, for example, with the price of gas cylinders.
The measure is nothing more than a proposal, but if the Minister of Finance wants the European Union to impose a tax on the extraordinary profits of companies in the energy sector, DECO argues that it should apply the same criteria to State profits, as in the case of gas cylinders.
“The Government should not collect revenue that comes from the sky, this is due to the increase in prices (…) The Government collects via VAT something that was not foreseen in the State Budget”, says Pedro Silva, from DECO.
The consumer protection association insists that the State has also collected much higher amounts than expected in this crisis.
“The State is looking at what the energy companies may be collecting through something they did not control, but what the State is collecting should also be looked at in the same way. It means treating the same things as the same.”
DECO considers it important that more actors can be called upon to help with this energy crisis, but emphasizes that these profits falling from the sky are different from 2022: they happen at the source and that is where they should be taxed.
