The Agriculture Minister has promised to simplify the tax bureaucracy for small scale farmers but said that there would be no changes to the Social Security contribution or tax registration rules for the sector.
Small farmers have until the end of January to declare their activity at Finanças and from then on must issue receipts for every transaction, however inconsequential.
The annual taxation applicable in Portugal to imported second-hand vehicles has been sharply criticised by Brussels which accuses Portugal of not taking into account the actual depreciation of vehicles.
The European Commission "formally calls on Portugal to amend its legislation on imported used cars.”
A statement issued today from Brussels read that the calculation of the taxable value of used vehicles does not take into account their capital depreciation.
New areas in the Algarve and Alentejo containing copper, lead and nickel in have been identified.
The discovery was made possible by a European study which has enabled an update to be made of Portugal’s mineral resources log.
The information was provided by Teresa Ponce de Leon, head of the National Laboratory for Energy & Geology who said the main discoveries in the Alentejo and Algarve regions are along the Iberian Pyrite belt, i.e. the main mining region in southwestern Europe .
The government announced today that the 2013 public deficit will be between 4.6% and 4.7% of GDP excluding the one off state support payment to rescue Banif.
If the €700 million given to Banif was to be added to the annual total, the deficit will be at least 5.1% as the state’s generosity to the bank was the equivalent of 0.4% of the deficit.
Pedro Nunes, president of the Board of Directors of the Hospitals of the Algarve, and Joao Pedro Moura Reis of the Governing Council of the Regional Health Authority managed both to miss the key debate on the 'State of Health the Western Algarve' where they were destined to be in the spotlight.
Both claim to have let the organisers know beforehand that they would not be attending but no messages were received and the audience was left disappointed and angry.
Burglaries in rural holiday properties in France soared by nearly 18% in a year.
Official figures show an increase in burglary and theft during 2013, with second homes faring worst. An increase in police protection had failed to halt the rise.
Malta’s new scheme to sell passports to rich foreigners has come under scrutiny by the EU.
The European Commission says that the rules about citizenship are up to individual countries, but that it is in talks with Malta over the scheme.
Portugal’s Attorney General’s Office (PGR) has reported that it indeed has received a request from Scotland Yard for assistance in the case of Madeleine McCann.
A note sent to press agency Lusa today stated that "a request has been lodged at the Procuradoria-Geral da República (PGR) from the British authorities requesting aid." There is no indication how long the request has been at the PGR offices but is has been 'analysed' before being acted on.
