"We will try to continue to lower IRS rates in the coming years," said Miranda Sarmento in the Budget, Finance and Public Administration Committee (COFPA), where he is being heard at the request of Chega about the IRS reduction. In response to Chega MP Rui Afonso, who accused the Government of presenting a "hoax" to the Portuguese when announcing the proposal, the official stressed that the estimated impact for the reduction of IRS rates, the Young IRS and the exemption of productivity bonuses for the entire legislature is three billion euros. In other words, according to the official, if these measures were not taken, IRS revenue would be three billion higher in 2028 than it would be without these measures. "We intend to comply with all the measures in the electoral program. In the AD [Democratic Alliance] electoral program there were two measures for 2024: this IRS reduction and the emergency health plan, but we are already anticipating some measures," he said. The announcement about the tax relief was made by the Prime Minister at the start of the debate on the Constitutional Government's program, during which he announced "the reduction of IRS rates on income up to the eighth bracket, which will result in an overall reduction of around 1,500 million euros in Portuguese workers' taxes compared to last year, especially felt in the middle class". A day later, on April 12, in an interview with RTP, the Minister of Finance clarified that the 1,500 million euros of IRS reduction this year announced by Luís Montenegro did not add to the more than 1,300 million euros of tax relief included in the State Budget for 2024 (OE2024) and already in force. Opposition parties then accused the Government of trying to deceive the Portuguese. The Government, in a statement, considered it "true and undeniable" that the IRS reductions will lead to a cut of 1,500 million euros compared to 2023 and argued that further reductions in IRS rates would be "budgetarily irresponsible". Subsequently, the executive updated the data on the tax reduction in force since January, from 1,327 million euros to 1,191 million, due to the 2022 declarations submitted in 2023. The IRS reduction provided for in the OE2024 and whose impact was accounted for in the aforementioned 1,327 million euros includes the updating of the brackets at a rate of 3%, the increase in the tax-exempt amount (minimum of existence) and the reduction of rates in the first five brackets between 1.25 and 3.5 percentage points. Read Also: AO MINUTO: Miranda Sarmento explains IRS controversy in Parliament (Portuguese version)