In a desperate bid to swell State coffers, fines for shops and businesses are being doubled – in some cases, they will be tripled.
According to Diário de Notícias this morning, the Council of Ministers that convened in a state of emergency on Tuesday has elaborated a fiscal witchhunt of terrifying proportions.
“Taxes may not be going up, but the worsening of fines will help (the government) raise another €1.5bn,” warns the paper.
Covering the story under the banner “Simple infractions could cost up to €15,000”, DN explains that while tax irregularities will “more than double” in many cases, incidents where businesses are found to be using the “wrong software” in cash registers will see fines treble.
Readers will recall that in April this year, thousands of businesses were faced with extra expenses when overnight the government declared a previously acceptable software to be open to fraud.
Businesses using it were given no time to change their systems, and tax inspectors were sent out to start fining the day after the news broke.
Unsurprisingly, opposition parties are dead against these latest plans, outlined in what is called the amending budget (OR), drawn up to try and make good pension and salary cuts disallowed by the Constitutional Court.
Indeed, according to DN, the government is already trying to come up with a third amending budget – on the understanding that this one may not get through.
“This amending budget is confirmation of the government’s flawed budgetary policies,” Socialist MP and opposition spokesman Eurico Brilhante Dias declared, vowing that the only vote to give was a no-vote.
Government forecasts peddled-back
Toughing up to criticism, Finance Minister Maria Luís Albuquerque (pictured) was quoted in Correio da Manhã as saying she expects to be at her post in 2016 and 2017, but the OR that has come out of Tuesday’s hastily convened council of ministers actually “reviews down” the bulk of this government’s proclaimed economic intentions.
Growth which had been set at 1.2% for this year has been dropped to 1%; investment – which only in April was expected to increase 3.2% has been dumbed back to 1.1% and exports, which not long ago Deputy PM Paulo Portas declared to be the “aircraft carrier of the Portuguese economy”, are now not forecast to increase by more than 4.1% (in April they had been forecast at 5.7%).
Meantime, the elephant in the room – the country’s crippling deficit – is forever tip-toeing round the furniture.
While the Government’s plan has always to finish the year at 4% of GDP, DN suggests the far more likely figure is almost twice that, 7.7%
And while the nitty-gritty that came out of the council of ministers is held up for inspection, news of another fiscal witchhunt appears in CM this morning.
“The government wants to receive a further €74.5 million in traffic fines by the end of the year,” writes the paper.
“This amount is itemised in the OR presented yesterday,” CM explains, revealing that the council of ministers has actually authorised the spending of €4.6 million worth of “sophisticated material” so that police can catch law-breakers.
In other words, the country may still be in holiday mode and enjoying summer sunshine, but the government very certainly is not.
