Government approves a 20% Corporation Tax (IRC) bonus
Companies located in the interior of the country will benefit from a 20% tax bonus which could in some cases result in a zero value corporation tax, encouraging investment to boost in these regions.
The 20% tax benefit for corporations is in line with the government’s initiatives to tackle the inequalities felt in the interior regions of the country.
Last Saturday the Council of Ministers gathered for an exceptional meeting in Coimbra, having discussed a package of 62 measures that encompass impulses to companies and a €1,700m investment.
Deputy minister Pedro Siza Vieira explained that the tax benefit will still have to be debated with the European Commission but he has hopes that the salary costs can be reduced by 20% with this measurement, which can be translated in some cases to a zero cost in IRC for companies.
The tax benefit would be applied both to companies already based in the region and to new companies planning to move to these regions. These measures are part of the Interior Region Development Programme: alongside 61 other directives, such as the reduction of toll taxes for vehicles transporting goods in the regional roads and routes.
More fiscal benefits are set to be applied with the creation of this programme, which plans to attract investment to the interior regions of the country through materializing measures and incentives such as the provision of opening a specific Support Line for Entrepreneurism and Business Projects considered of strategic importance for regional development.
In the context of Portugal2020, the government will create a call for tenders that will provide up to €1,700m in support of corporate investment in these most neglected regions, “prioritizing low-density territories” as deputy minister Siza Vieira pointed out.
