The proposal to amend IRS tax rates was submitted to the Assembly of the Republic on Friday, after being approved by the Council of Ministers on the same day.

After the 'green light', the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, gave a press conference, during which he pointed out that these changes promoted a "reduction in IRS rates up to the 8th bracket".

The Head of Government considered that this was a "significant reduction" , since "all rates in all brackets were reduced" , except for the last one.

This reduction estimated by the Government "has an overall value that amounts to a reduction of 1.539 billion euros compared to 2023", Montenegro also pointed out.

But the Prime Minister was not the only one to speak, since after the announcement, there were reactions from the parties, which will mostly present alternative proposals to those presented by the Executive.

What do the parties say?

The Secretary-General of the Socialist Party (PS), Pedro Nuno Santos, considered that the proposal presented has neither "hope" nor "ambition".

"We will make a careful assessment, but a first quick assessment leads us to see that the gains that the Portuguese will have are only residual gains", he said, stating that "today it is better understood why the AD [Democratic Alliance] Government tried to create the trick of including the PS's 1.3 billion in the measure, as its proposal was not for any tax relief".

In Parliament, the leader of Chega criticized the announcements and accused the Prime Minister of being dishonest with the Portuguese regarding tax reduction. Regretting the lack of ambition, André Ventura admitted that the "most likely" thing is for the party to abstain from the vote, but did not rule out voting in favor. "It will not be Chega that will prevent the reduction of taxes in Portugal [...]. If the PS votes against, there will have to be a favorable vote, it is a scenario that can happen. It is very unlikely that Chega will bear the burden of making this proposal unfeasible", he guaranteed.

The leader of the Liberal Initiative, Rui Rocha, criticized the measures announced in four adjectives: "uncomfortable, insufficient, unfair and illusory". The liberal justified this classification with Montenegro's "insistence" on "appropriating" the IRS announced by the former Government or the "mere updating of brackets by inflation", among others.

MONTENEGRO COMUNICOU HOJE 4 Is

1/ I de Incómodo: foi evidente nas declarações do primeiro-ministro que insiste em apropriar-se do desagravamento do IRS que já tinha sido anunciado pelo governo socialista.

2/ I de Insuficiente: tal como a Iniciativa Liberal tinha apontado… pic.twitter.com/dw6gNT8P22

— Rui Rocha (@ruirochaliberal) April 19, 2024

The leader of the Left Bloc, Mariana Mortágua, considered that the "essential" part of this measure was not from Montenegro's Executive and, when asked about the possible approval, she replied: "We'll see".

The leader of PAN, Inês Sousa Real, pointed out that "more ambition" was needed in tax reform, and said that she had already presented a set of measures to the Prime Minister. "We hope that there will be openness on the part of Luís Montenegro and also the parliamentary bench of the Social Democratic Party to support and make viable", she said.

The parliamentary leader of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), Paula Santos, said that "what was announced is a deepening of tax injustice". The communist was also asked if she would vote against the measure, and said tha>