This Wednesday, the Socialist Party led the visit to the Parliament of the president of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), Fernando Gomes, to explain what kind of contracts it has made with the technical teams of the FPF, Roberto Martínez included, but decided to call the Authority Taxation (AT). Goal? Obtain a status report on tax inspections of the use of companies for personal purposes.
The PS was the only one to vote against the request of the Bloco de Esquerda that asked that the deputies hear, “as a matter of urgency”, the president of the FPF. But he guarantees that he is not favoring the entity, which has public utility status, nor favoring the football sector.
Miguel Cabrita, deputy of the PS, says that “all sectors of activity must be treated with equity” and that demanding that Fernando Gomes go to Parliament, to speak about a specific tax case, does not fit in with the tradition of the budget and finance commission , and it is not necessary.
“There are clarifications that can be requested without hearing a budget and finance commission. There are requests for information that can be made”, namely with the FPF, he considers.
However, the party thinks it might be useful to listen to the director general of the AT, Helena Borges (pictured). “We are going to proceed with a request to be heard by the AT”, says Miguel Cabrita.
The objective is not to explore concrete cases, which are subject to tax secrecy, but for “the AT to provide some clarifications so that we can understand how this type of practice has evolved”.
By type of practices, it is understood the use of taxpayers to sole proprietorships to receive their income there, and, instead of IRS, pay IRC. And, many times, to impute personal expenses to the company, reducing their profits.
The generalization of this practice was, moreover, one of the arguments used by Fernando Santos’ lawyers in his procedural defense, and the reason that leads the former selector to guarantee that he remains “absolutely convinced” that he is right. “Everyone keeps telling me this is perfectly normal. It is perfectly legitimate, in tax terms there is no problem at all”, said the coach, alluding to the fact that he receives the coach’s salary through his company, Femacosa, instead of doing it directly through the FPF.
In their defense, Morais Leitão’s lawyers recalled that the solution adopted in 2014 “was not an original, sophisticated or complex idea”. There are many “doctors, economists, accountants, engineers or architects” who set up companies and send their income there, and nothing in the law allows us to consider that these are “artificial or fraudulent” means.
Dissatisfied, Bloco de Esquerda insists
The request for a hearing by the Portuguese Football Federation was filed last week in Parliament, to force Fernando Gomes to provide clarification on the employment contracts signed during his leadership, and about which he has been refusing details.
Fernando Gomes had assumed responsibility for the contract concluded in 2014 with Fernando Santos in the arbitration court, and launched the Tax Authorities in pursuit of the former coach and respective technical team, but since then, it has been sent to silence.
More recently, he refused to explain to Expresso how Roberto Martínez was hired. So far, it is not known whether the Spanish coach has signed an individual employment contract or an individual provision of services, or whether he has followed the same model required of his predecessor (the existence of a company through which the entire team is remunerated). technical team).
In a statement to journalists, Mariana Mortágua regretted the outcome of the vote, but guaranteed that the party will not give up its intentions. The deputy began by recalling that “the FPF is a public utility entity” and, therefore, “it must provide clarifications to Parliament and, above all, guarantee the country that no contract from now on will promote any tax evasion”, as allegedly happened with the case of Fernando Santos and his technical team.
For the party, listening to Fernando Gomes was not only reasonable, but “a duty of transparency”. And that’s why “don’t give up”.
“It seemed to us that it would be possible to obtain a different vote if, instead of the Budget and Finance Commission, this request was presented to the commission that deals with sports issues. And we will try to present it, with exactly the same objective”, assured Mariana Mortágua.
