Having spent seven years at the head of the Directorate General of Taxation, José Azevedo Pereira gave a rare interview to SIC-Noticias.
The conclusion drawn from the conversation is that the country’s taxation rules, far from being equally applied to all citizens, are in fact part of a politically manipulated system that favours Portugal’s already wealthy families.
During the Passos Coelho government, in 2014 when Pereira left the Tax Authority, a special team had identified about 1,000 wealthy families, or "high net worth individuals" which, by definition had €25 million in liquid assets or had an income each of at least €5 million per year.
"In any country that takes taxation seriously," this group of high earners would guarantee about 25% of the year's income tax receipts, according to Pereira. In Portugal, this group contributed to just 0.5% of the total income tax received by the Treasury.
This means, according to the ex-taxman, that Portugal’s top 1,000 earners pay 500 times less than could be expected under current tax rules.
Azevedo Pereira describes Portugal as being in a situation where groups of citizens have easy access to decision makers and great ability to influence the making of laws.
The situation is not inevitable, it can be remedied "provided there is political will," given that the group of Treasury officials who were working on this issue by 2014 has since been dismantled, according to Pereira.
The former tax chief says that the Tax Authority continues to be an opaque structure, hiding critical statistical information that is needed to inform open debate.
It's not just the privileged access of a handful of rich to the centre of power that distorts democracy and enables tax evasion on a grand scale in Portugal, it is the lack of transparency within the Tax Authority itself that is cause for concern and alarm.
The Left Bloc are aware of the TV interview and urgently have asked for more information - and for the topic to be discussed in parliament. .
