This Friday, the President of the Republic called on companies with extraordinary profits to take measures of greater social responsibility by sacrificing the distribution of dividends, given that a possible tax cannot be retroactive and must be fair.
“Companies that in this situation, for various reasons, had extraordinary profits due to the emergency, should be the first to take the initiative of greater social responsibility. They should invest more socially, sacrificing dividends, profit distribution. should take the initiative,” Marcelo Rebelo de Souza told reporters when asked about his opinion on the possibility of taxing excess profits.
On the sidelines of the EuroAfrican Forum 2022, which ended this Friday in Carcavelos, Lisbon district, the President of the Republic said that the application of taxes in these situations “is a matter that is being discussed” in other countries, since “finding a solution that does not apply retroactively is fair and has a counterpart that needs to be studied.”
“If taxes are indeed being raised for those who have made extraordinary profits due to the emergency, perhaps we should cut taxes or take social measures on those disadvantaged sectors that are suffering the most,” he suggested.
For the time being, however, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza has chosen to focus on “calling for those who find themselves in this situation to set an example of social responsibility now more than ever.”
Asked what the government should do if companies do not take the initiative he asked for, the head of state declined to foresee “a debate that has not been held either with the government or in parliament.”
“The only thing left is the appeal, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the notion that any measure taken must be a fair measure in the way it is taken, and that by its results it reaches the pockets of the people if it is not the people who will think: increase taxes on certain activities and where is the money from this increase in terms of social measures and consequences for those who suffer the most,” he insisted.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
