Country Note: Assessing the Corporate Use of Tax Relief Measures in Portugal in the Wake of the Pandemic: A Survey

Abstract

The covid 19 pandemic has been affecting the social and economic system of every country. In the economic domain, policymakers have used an array of measures to alleviate the financial stress of individuals and firms. A broad strand of literature has discussed the wide range of tax relief measures and their possible effectiveness. In the corporate sector, one year after the outbreak of the pandemic, it is time to assess how firms took advantage of tax relief measures enacted by governments and to analyse which of those are more appropriate. The purpose of this article is therefore to connect the literature about fiscal policymaking with the effective use of covid 19 relief measures in the corporate sector. Based on a survey of 200 chartered accountants with comprehensive knowledge of Portuguese firms´ utilization of fiscal measures, the authors present an analysis related to the utilization of tax relief measures in three important areas: the VAT, corporate income tax, and individual income tax. The VAT payment deferral emerges as the most important area for tax relief considering its more immediate impact on cash flows and liquidity. Additionally, respondents were requested to offer their opinions about the economic sectors in which relief measures had a more intensive use. Tax relief, global tax policymaking, pandemic, covid 19 relief measures, corporate tax