PS socialists urge IVA cut on fuel – Portugal Resident

Portugal’s PS Socialist party has reiterated its call today for a reduction in IVA (VAT) on fuel, ahead of a further price increase coming tomorrow.

The party also says it is intending to summon oil company associations to parliament.

Speaking to journalists in Porto, MP João Torres said that in the context of “a further very significant increase in fuel prices”, the government should lower IVA on fuels from 23% to 13% – a measure the PSD/CDS-PP executive has repeatedly rejected, in spite of it being one adopted early on in this crisis by Spain.

“This is an absolutely necessary measure for the state to provide a sign of support during this period of greater difficulty,” said Torres, adding that “it is in times of greatest difficulty that the state must be willing to support families and businesses.”

During the press conference, the MP announced a proposal to hold hearings in parliament with “associations representing fuel retailers and oil companies” to allow them to “share their vision and concerns regarding the current price situation”.

He accused the government of showing “enormous insensitivity towards the impacts of this crisis” and of “viewing this crisis as a fiscal opportunity.”

Torres said that in the first quarter of this year, “the Portuguese paid an extra €36 million in Tax on Petroleum Products,” which “corresponds to double the average increase in tax revenue.”

“This stubbornness from the government only proves that, through the political choices of the Democratic Alliance (AD), the state is using this crisis to bolster its coffers,” he said.

Torres went on, stressing the government has “ignored proposals that the Socialist Party has been presenting” – in spite of them being “reasonable and sensible.”

He insisted on another measure the party has repeatedly proposed: IVA Zero (zero VAT) on essential food items (as was decreed during the pandemic).

He said the government can “work with measures that were tested and proven in the past.”

“This is a national heritage, not the heritage of any single government,” he insisted, calling on the government to “understand that the worsening of this crisis will force the adoption of more and newer measures.”

“If it refused measures in the past, it would be sensible to re-evaluate those measures,” Torres warned. The cost of living “is reaching unbearable levels”, he said.

Fuel prices in Portugal will rise again from tomorrow, with diesel increasing by an average of 10 cents per litre and 95-octane petrol by 6.5 cents.

Source: LUSA