Popular Taxation

The introduction of IMI (Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis) in 2004 was a great step forward in balancing the taxation of property ownership in Portugal and stopping evasion on property transfers, now subject to IMT (previously SISA). The basic rule was that all transactions would be assumed to have been carried out at a price based on area, location and year of construction. Thus under-declaring transaction values to avoid transfer tax became pointless and practically died out since assessed values were very close to real values.

Property was thereafter taxed annually based on this same value, making property ownership a rather painful pastime, particularly for well-off people with large and new houses.

However, the property crash has caused a glitch in the system. Owners are now being taxed annually based on values that they cannot hope to achieve in the open market.

So what was the government's reaction? Tweak the tax rate downwards! That has a number of political benefits, such as benefitting the middle classes directly, while the reduction in tax revenue is hidden from the deficit calculation as the tax income was allocated to local authorities, not to central government. Of course, the underlying principle is wrong: there was nothing wrong with the tax rate, only with the property valuations, but since when has logic applied when votes are at stake?

I wonder what they will tweak next, as elections approach. Perhaps they should have left this one to next year, as there isn't much room for manoeuvre anywhere else...

Via Errada

I have been a fan of the Via Verde system for many years; since it was invented, in fact. But as a Company, I am less than impressed, since it has a tendency to behave rather like the armed wing of Brisa!

Now it's clear the non-payment of tolls is a crime, but is it so prevalent that drastic measures have to exist to prevent losses to the two companies? I suppose that VV only has to pay Brisa the tolls it receives, not the total value of all cars that pass, irrespective of managing to take their money.

Have you ever tried to tell Via Verde that you want to cancel one of their identifying gadgets? As they can't be switched off, they have to be returned. I have one on my desk at work that belonged to the late Technical Director and was in his company car. I sent the office boy to return it for cancellation, only to find out that huge amount of paperwork would be required. I also have a device, somewhere, that I haven't used for 10 years. It appears on the database in my name, but I can't do anything with that record, as the website doesn't behave in the way set out in the FAQ!

Quite frankly, the site is awful, built on an old version of SAP. How do I know? Because the pages come up with the SAP logo, not Via Verde!

I've also heard that the GPS system the company is plugging has the annoying habit of telling you to slow down as you approach the VV corridor. Good job I didn't buy one, as I would want to return it in that case, which I guess would be impossible.

You might think that a leading, innovative company like Via Verde should be good at customer service. Think again!

CD of the Month (11)

Not a very original choice this month, I know. Queen is the classic, the greatest band ever, cliché of the month, superlatives cannot do them justice.

And then there's the song: when Freddy Mercury was starting to become ill, to write this song is just amazing.

Of course, I could have put up the image of Innuendo, which is also impossible to take out of the car when its turn comes around. But this collection of Greatest Hits is, by itself, an amazing collection, full of powerful, fun, well written, well performed tracks, so here it is...

How to Win an Election

So Zimbabwe is going to get another term of Robert Mugabe as president. He has managed to intimidate the opposition into submission, through mass persecution and execution of voters and candidates.

Of course, it helps that Zimbabwe has no oil reserves and it's a US election year, otherwise somebody would be invading to stop the genocide...

Illegal Immigrant

Last Friday, I failed miserably to renew my residence permit and driving license to show the address where I have been living for 2 1/2 years. I got together all the papers that I had needed the last time, in 2003, and went off to the Loja do Cidadão in Setúbal.

I quickly (only 1 hour) found out that the driving license application requires updating the residence permit first. Much later, I discovered that the numbered queuing tickets at the SEF counter are completely irrelevant - you can only deal with the staff by appointment, made online or by phone.

So off I went to www.sef.pt, only to find that my residence permit apparently has an invalid number, so I can't book online. And the phone number is a call centre in Lisbon, where it was a municipal holiday last Friday - hence my availability to go to Setúbal! So nothing doing...

Of course, I don't actually need to update these documents. The driving license expires in 2024 and the residence permit in 2013. So why bother trying to update them? After all, if I get a traffic fine, it will be sent to the wrong address. Fine by me!

I don't know how easy, or difficult, such formalities are in other countries, but my advice in Portugal is, if you can get away with it, don't bother!

Transport Strikes

The recent (and ongoing) strikes by truck drivers over the cost of fuel are valid tactics in renegotiation of transport prices when fuel costs are skyrocketing. But I fail to see what this, in general, has to do with the Government. Most sectors of the transport industry are not regulated by the Government - the suppliers and purchasers of the service are free to negotiate prices. So surely the truck drivers were barking up the wrong tree. They should be threatening their customers with non-delivery.

But then the fat cats waded in, and the big transport firms managed to extract tax and training benefits from the government - pretty irrelevant if the basic service makes a loss. Strangely, the regulated sector hasn't been making much fuss, particularly the busses, though the taxi drivers are right to appeal for the Government to approve a fare increase.

Once again, backroom deals with fat cats determine Government strategy, and the real problem goes unaddressed...

CD of the month (10)

I'm no expert on musical genres, but I know what I like, and this, Sade's debut album, is one of the all time greats, whether we call it easy listening, groove, soul or something else.

With a majority of original tracks, Sade Adu and her band invented a new sound and niche, which proved so successful that they were quickly imitated, though nothing that matched the pioneering quality of this album.

One of my all-time favourites.

Clube de Fado

I know that clicking on Google adverts on your own site is tecnically fraud, but this site appeared in the sidebar, and I couldn't resist.

I can't vouch for the restaurant itself, but its website is very attractive, with lots of information including the full menu with prices (a bit high, but possibly justified). So I might just look it up.

Oh, and if you are tempted to follow the link, check if it is in the sidebar first, and earn me a cent or two.

Portugal Verde

This weekend saw the Portugal Verde exhibition at the Cordoaria Nacional in Belém, Lisbon.

Unfortunately, I can find little positive to say about it. The location is bad - badly signposted, cold and dark. The exhibitors had very little to offer - mostly big corporate names showing off their green credentials, such as Refer, Delta Cafés, the Port of Lisbon, ANA Airports.

The offer of green goods was also rather weak - Junkers and Vulcano only had solar panels for water heating, which have been around for years. Honda was there, of course, though it's hybrids are hardly emissions champions, if you look at the new car emissions tables.

I liked the big exhibition of recycled materials for contruction from Matrec and the environmentally friendly house sponsored by Philips. It's a shame the rest was so feeble, including its website.

Consultant speak

This week's project progress meeting with my friendly consultants produced an unexpected development in business English, while the meeting took place in Portuguese.

Analysing a function that needs to be implemented but has never existed due to the small size of the company, they suggested that it might be outsourced, or insourced! Logical, but wrong.

So should the function be outsourced or in-house? I don't really care. But anyone suggesting it should be insourced will be banished to the outhouse!