Before the two-way meeting, Montenegro gave a clue about his “irrefutable” proposal: using Pedro Nuno’s program
Hours before meeting with Pedro Nuno Santos, Luís Montenegro anticipated in Parliament what could be one of the keys to resolving the impasse into which the two largest parties were plunged to make — or not — the State Budget for 2025 viable. it may be an “insurmountable contradiction” that the Government considers to have found in the socialists’ speech: on the one hand, Pedro Nuno has said that tax revenue is below the EU average; on the other, the PS electoral program defends an extension of the IRS Jovem, which is already in force (in different ways than in Montenegro), just as it also wants, with nuances, changes to the IRC for companies that use profits for the economy and the appreciation of wages.
After promising to take the meeting with Pedro Nuno Santos, an “irrefutable” proposal — despite considering that the PS has already decided to vote against it anyway —, Montenegro recalled in the debate in Parliament what the PS’s concerns are in those two sectors, young people and companies, and finished with an enigmatic phrase: “I will make your decision easier and I will present you with a proposal that safeguards your concerns and principles and is an approximation of what you defend”he said, after recalling that “the PS and deputy Pedro Nuno Santos, despite being angry with companies and young people in Portugal, defend a reduction in the IRC and a reduction in the IRS for young people”.
Now, if Muhammad doesn’t go to the mountain, the mountain goes to Muhammad, with Luís Montenegro suggesting that the proposal he will make to the socialist general secretary could go through modulate PS proposals — using these as a basis —, instead of modulating the Government’s proposals, at least as far as IRS Jovem is concerned.
According to Luís Montenegro, the current model of IRS Jovem implemented by António Costa is “very restrictive”, because it only applies “to young people with a degree and because it is limited to five years”. “It’s a mistake,” said the prime minister. This is precisely where Montenegro and Pedro Nuno can meet, with Montenegro suggesting meeting the socialists’ proposal.
In the electoral program, Pedro Nuno Santos’ PS defends the “extension of the IRS Jovem to all young people, regardless of the level of education achieved, for the sake of justice and internal coherence to the extent (between 18 and 26 years old)”.
In the fortnightly debate, the current prime minister recalled this proposal, adding that Pedro Nuno had included it in the PS program because he realized that the measure in force was “unfair” in excluding non-graduates. But he added yet another alleged injustice, arguing that this, to be effective, it would have to apply for more than the five years currently in force.
Last Friday, on the Expresso da Meia Noite program, the PSD parliamentary leader, Hugo Soares, had already admitted the Government’s approach to the IRS Jovem model that was defined by the socialist Government: he spoke for the first time of an alternative proposal with based on the proportionality of income. But he didn’t elaborate.
Already Regarding IRC, the PS proposed in the March elections to reduce autonomous taxes on company vehicles by 20% (a measure to which the Government has already committed in the social consultation agreement), and proposed “implementing the minimum IRC rate, in light of the global agreement to tax large multinationals, not accepting the postponement of application deadlines”.
The Government’s proposal to the PS to negotiate the Budget, said Montenegro, will be “irrefutable”. “Irrefutable”, said Pedro Nuno, is for the Government to give up its Young IRS model. The key may therefore be to invert the tables: Montenegro taking advantage of what was proposed by the PS.
