Portugal loses 880 million euros a year untaxed – Observer
Portugal lost 880 million euros not taxed in 2020, amount that would be needed to vaccinate five times the Portuguese population against Covid-19, warned this Thursday the president of the Trade Union Association of Tax and Customs Inspection Professionals.
“Portugal had an estimated loss of 880 million euros, of which 412 million euros due to transnational tax abuse by multinational companies and 467 million euros lost due to tax evasion at sea“, said Nuno Barroso, association president and association of the Ibero-American Network of Tax Auditors.
The 880 million euros “would make it possible to vaccinate a Portuguese population five times”, added the official, who was speaking at a conference on “Priorities in the Fight against Corruption”, as part of the commemorations of the International Day Against Corruption promoted by Transparency International Portugal in Caldas da Queen, district of Leiria.
The president of the Trade Union Association of Tax and Customs Inspection Professionals estimated that untaxed losses exceed 1000 million euros, around 1% of the Gross Domestic Product.
Speaking about tax benefits in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, he said that “most companies based there have not created jobs”.
However, despite the “transparency problems” that he said exist in Madeira, he argued that “there is no interest in discussing and making them transparent”.
Regarding the Anti-Corruption Mechanism, Nuno Barroso left doubts about its independence and about the quantification of means of investigation and judicial investigation, which, according to him, was the biggest problem in the fight against corruption, due to the lack of human resources renewal. .
At the same conference, prosecutor Ana Carla Almeida, from the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action, stated that “It is unbelievable that the lack of response to the achievement of means” in the strategy.
For her part, former MEP and former candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, Ana Gomes, speaking about tax havens, considered that “the scheme is designed not to control or deter, but to encourage transfers to the at sea“.