The Chamber of Faro today approved, unanimously, the reduction of the IMI rate from 0,45 to 0,40, a proposal presented by the president of the autarchy, the social democrat Rogério Bacalhau.
The proposal received votes from both the executive members elected by the PSD/CDS and the PS. Luís Graça, president of the socialist council, told the Sul Informação that it is “a reduction that has long been defended by the socialist mayors, who for several years had been calling attention to the disproportionate tax burden that the Farenses were being called to pay”.
The Chamber of Faro talks about the maintenance «of the tax relief policy on citizens and companies based in the municipality in 2018, giving up around 1,6 million euros in annual income in taxes and fees, which, in this way, revert to the local and family economy ».
In addition to the "1,4 million euros" that property owners will no longer pay due to the reduction, "significant support" was also approved for families with dependent children. “Thus, families with one child pay €20 less in IMI, families with two children pay €40 less and those with three or more pay €70 less in IMI. It is expected that the measure will have an additional impact on the economy of families of around 200 thousand euros», revealed the municipality of Faro.
The changes in taxes stop here, since «the remaining fees and taxes will be fixed at the same values as in 2017». In other words, «the IMI for rural properties will remain at 0,8%, the tax at 1,5% on the corporate income tax and the municipality's participation in the formation of the income tax received in the municipality will remain at 5%».
To the four socialist councilors elected to the Chamber of Faro, the reductions would not have remained with the IMI, but would also have been reflected in the IRS rate charged by the municipality. At today's chamber meeting, the Socialists presented a proposal for a 20% reduction in the IRS rate in the county of Faro, «going from the current 5 to 4% of the global amount of IRS that the City Council of Faro it retains the citizens».
According to a note signed by the president of the Municipality of PS Farense, Luís Graça (also president of the Municipal Assembly), this proposal follows "the effort of tax relief that the Government made under the proposed State Budget for 2018".
«We think it is important to reduce the IMI, but that an effort in the scope of the percentage of the IRS that remains for the Chamber is also important. The reduction from 5% to 4% will allow the return of 700 euros a year to Faroese families», explained Luís Graça, in his statements to Sul Informação.
In the communiqué sent this afternoon, when the Chamber meeting was still taking place, the Socialists argued that “after several years of charging maximum IMI and IRS fees to Farenses and in view of the treasury balances and the volume of liquidity in the Chamber City of Faro, the current moment demands that a tax relief be approved, which reduces the effort that families of Faro have had to bear it, particularly in the last six years, and gradually put the burden of taxes levied on Faro at the level of other municipalities in the Algarve, achieving a situation of virtuous balance between the investment needs of the municipality and the fiscal capacity of the Farenses».
The president of the Chamber of Faro Rogério Bacalhau considered that the reduction of IMI operated, which set this tax below the maximum limit provided by law "only for the second time in nine years", has two objectives: "we intend to relieve families and individuals and, on the other hand, we want to maintain the attractiveness achieved for the municipality in terms of attracting investment and creating jobs».
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