Portugal tax revenues fall to 36.8% of GDP
In 2019 tax and social security payments dropped to 36.8% of GDP in Portugal compared to 37.0% in 2018 says Jornal Económico.
According to information from the European statistics office Eurostat, total revenues from the collection of taxes and social security contributions fell slightly from 41.2% to 41.1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The tax-to-GDP ratio varied widely in 2019 between Member States, with the highest being presented by France (47,4%), Denmark (46,9%) and Belgium (45,9%) and the lowest in Ireland (22,7%), Romania (26,8%), Bulgaria (30,3%), Lithuania (30,4%) and Latvia (31,3%).
Compared to 2018, the tax revenue-to-GDP ratio increased in 2019 in 12 Member States and decreased in another 13, with the largest percentage increase to be recorded in Cyprus (from 33,5% to 35,6%) and the main drop in Belgium (from 47,1% to 45,9%).
Nevertheless, the Portuguese State charged companies more than 4,300 taxes, many of them without knowing what for or why according to the Portuguese Industrial Confederation (CIP).
And according to the State Budget for 2021, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to the lowest tax levies for eight years with tax charges falling to 2012 levels and despite a cash injection from the EU in 2021, the deficit will stand at around 4.3% with the Government signalling some austerity in 2022.
The CIP says there are around 4,300 taxes in Portugal of which 2,900 are charged by Central GoGovernment and 600 are charged by the Portuguese Environment Agency.
In fact, taxes represented 20% of Portuguese turnover in 2017, which places the country in 11th place out of the 27 countries of the European Union. This means that in nine years Portugal saw the fifth largest increase in taxes in the EU.