en 
“On October 10th, the State Budget will be presented and what we will present is certainly a proposal that fulfils the objective that has already been publicly stated of reducing by more than two billion euros what the Portuguese pay in IRS. Therefore, it does not make sense for those who do not pay [IRS] to start paying, especially those with lower incomes”, stated António Costa.
For António Costa, the possibility of updating the minimum wage causing workers who earn this amount to pay IRS is “a problem that cannot be raised and a discussion that does not make sense”.
“There will certainly be a day when the minimum wage will be well above the minimum level of existence, as it should be. […] That’s still not the case,” he stressed.
The Prime Minister highlighted that the country must aspire to have a “society where the wages that pay for work” are far above what is the minimum for existence.
Asked about the possibility that, by the end of his term, workers who receive the SMN will start paying IRS, António Costa said that the Government aims to reach a minimum wage of 900 euros in 2026, having to wait and see how the economy is evolving and what this means for updating indicators, particularly social support indexes.
“It’s not worth trying to anticipate discussions,” he asserted.
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Costa has no clue. Wages and salaries depend on how much a business can afford to pay, and that ultimately depends on productivity. A salesperson selling lots of goods will be worth a lot more than an unsuccessful salesperson who sells nothing. So it's nonsense to say wages should always be well above the minimum needed to survive, as that's just wishful thinking with no grounding in reality or economic justification.
By Billy Bissett from Porto on 22 Sep 2023, 11:44
People who oppose raising the minimum wage don't understand economics. It's been proven over and over, when workers at lower and middle levels of income receive higher wages, they spend more. This spending kicks off an economic multiplier, boosting the economy many times more than the cost of the wage boost. Let's say the lower and mid-level consumers spend their new income at the grocery store. The grocery store hires more workers, who spend their new income. The store buys more products and produce, so food processors, farmers and transportation workers have more income so they hire more workers, and so on, and so on, and so on. Everybody wins.
By Terry Spring from Other on 23 Sep 2023, 17:07