Calado defends “political and economic” lobby for Lisbon to give more powers to Madeira – DNOTICIAS.PT
Pedro Calado appealed, this afternoon, for the leaders of the Portuguese Fiscal Association to carry out “a political and economic lobby” that they deem convenient with the political decision-makers in Lisbon to treat Madeira differently in fiscal and legislative matters.
The Mayor of Funchal was speaking at the closing of the conference ‘The Taxation of the Tourism Sector’, which took place at the Noble Hall of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, in order to mark the creation of the regional section of this Association in Madeira, chaired by Francisco Coast.
. “We don’t want to be different, nor to be more or less than anyone else, but we have our own specificities that must be taken into account and respected”, said the mayor. Despite the economic growth in Madeira, he believes that there is a certain fiscal stranglehold on decisions and what can be done.
In his speech, Pedro Calado regretted, for example, that the International Business Center of Madeira (CINM) with some specificities, raises a different vision that exists at the regional level and also existing at the European level. “There is a different treatment given to Portugal than Malta, Cyprus and other regions. They protect themselves differently, having the same situation”, he indicated.
According to the president of the CMF, Madeira was able to define for a different taxation in certain areas, but there needs to be a policy to do this and that we are not all waiting for a constitutional review, because we all know the arduous path that this will take. he takes.
Pedro Calado gave the example of the pandemic in which Madeira hit a very big blockage at the legislative level to take decisions and implement some measures because they emerged whenever there were contradictory legal issues, such as the use of masks for protection or the conditional freedom of citizens, among others aspects”.
“This is just to give an example of the great difficulty in harmonizing what is in the public interest, defending the population, creating economic growth, protecting the interests of companies, which are the ones who create jobs in the region and at the same time comply with the law”, he said.
On another level, Pedro Calado criticized the way in which VAT is taxed for those who have local accommodation, as well as the fact that the legislator now wants to tax the digital nomads that have been a success in Madeira.
“What I’m given to understand is that this sector is growing, it’s boosting, we’re going to find a way to tax it, this doesn’t work. Every time there is a hen laying a golden egg, the hen is killed”, he exemplified.
“What I asked of you and considering what we can do and contribute to the national whole in terms of leveraging economic growth, creating jobs, reducing the unemployment rate is that all of us, those in charge of counseling , the local and government bodies, we were in the same spirit which is to promote what is different with different treatment.
I think that here, the Association can have an intervening work. I know that it is an independent association, above all from political interests, but that they are not independent from economic interests, in the sense of protecting investment, attracting investment and capturing the creation of jobs in the region”, he stressed