Various sources of income – including capital gains – to be exempt from declaration
Portugal’s social democrat coalition government is to remove the obligation to declare income such as interest, capital gains, dividends, meal allowances, subsistence allowances and insurance for personal income tax purposes, Público newspaper has reported today.
A source from the Ministry of Finance told the paper that the government is going to approve a statute at a coming Council of Ministers that removes the obligation to declare for the purposes of IRS for 2024 and subsequent years, income subject to withholding rates above €500 (such as interest, capital gains or dividends) and income not subject to this tax above €500 (for example, food allowances, subsistence allowances or insurance).
The same source also said that the legislation will clarify the obligation to declare assets obtained in companies registered offshore, and will therefore include a list of the type of assets that will have to be reported in IRS tax returns.
The government believes the law set out in the state budget for 2025, which would apply for the first time to tax returns relating to income obtained last year, was “not sufficiently clear” and would make the process more complex for taxpayers and the AT tax authority.
It would also be a step backwards for taxpayers who use automatic online IRS forms, because it would require them to declare information already held by the AT.
As Lusa stresses, “with this change, the government intends to limit the reporting obligation to offshore assets only”.
Source material: LUSA
