RazãoAutomóvel presents the accounts that have “dried” the portfolio of the Portuguese and the pockets of companies in the automotive sector in Portugal.
The Portuguese people are most likely the ones who make the most effort to acquire a car in all of Europe, it is nothing new. Even so, last year 95,290 units were sold. Only an “iron” desire to own a car, accompanied by an overwhelming passion, can explain that in a country like ours, with such meager salaries and such expensive cars, close to 100,000 vehicles are sold. Numbers far from those registered in 2010: 269,162 units sold. Year in which the Portuguese rush to the concessionaires anticipating the tax increase in 2011.
But going back to 2012, these numbers are only possible today because on the other side of the coin, we find companies in the sector «crushing» profit margins and making unprecedented offers in their models. Oftentimes, just for the purpose of keeping jobs or doors open.
So if we have customers willing to spend on one side and companies willing to sell on the other, where does the money go? Ledger Automobile presents the accounts to you. Part of the numbers are from 2010, but it is possible to have a very comprehensive overview of the importance of taxpayers from the automobile and the automotive sector for the State's coffers:
1. Tax on Petroleum Products – €3,239,600,000 (Source: INE)
2. Tolls – 45,189,000 € (Source: Estradas de Portugal, although this value is prior to the entry into force of tolls at SCUT, which in 2011 generated more than 190 million!)
3. Single Circulation Tax – €323,000,000 (source: DGCI)
4. Tax on Car Registration – €831,000,000 (source: INE)
5. Traffic fines: €41,600,000 (Until July 2012 this value reached 154 million. Despite the decrease in car traffic…)
To all this, there is still (!) to add the tax revenue of VAT on fuels, new vehicles and their maintenance. But even excluding these, the state's total revenue from motorists was: 4,480,389,000€ (Four thousand four hundred and eighty million, three hundred and eighty-nine thousand euros). This is what the State costs per year to the automotive sector in Portugal and to families.
If the State did not absorb this amount, what would happen to the national automobile sector? Leave us your opinion on this topic here or on our facebook.
Text: Guilherme Ferreira da Costa
Via: The Insurgent