Banks hammered for social security costs

The Portuguese government is to slap a levy on the banking sector to support the country’s social security system.

It will have to fork out €33 million towards supporting the costs of maintaining cash-flow levels of Segurança Social – the country’s national insurance contributive system — which faces a black hole without it due to Covid-19.
The measure, which may or not be permanent, is part of the Economic Stabilisation Programme (PEES) details of which have been published in the Government’s circular Diário da República.
In this document, according to the online news sources Jornal Económico and ECO, the banks will now pay an additional social security contribution to help finance the crisis.
The levy will bring in €33 million to State coffers from a sector that already feels that it has been singled out by both the Government, small and medium-size businesses and the general public as a scapegoat for the fallout from the Covid-19 crisis.
The target of this tax, worth 0.02%, are (i) Credit institutions which have their main administrative headquarters on Portuguese territory and (ii) Credit institutions whose effective and main headquarters is outside Portuguese territory with branches in Portugal.”