The Minister of Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, intends to present in the first half of next year a new solution for banking taxationwhich compensates for the end of the additional solidarity tax on banks, which was declared unconstitutional.
“We will try to present a bill to Parliament in the first half of next year,” declared Miranda Sarmento in interview to Jornal de Negócios and Antena 1on the review of banking taxation.
When asked whether this solution will be applied during 2026, the minister was evasive. “We will see the conditions of this tax”, he replied.
The minister reiterated that “some caution is needed” in the design of the measure, to avoid it also being declared unconstitutional, like the additional one created in 2020 and which yielded 40 million euros to the State, now forcing public coffers to return a total of 200 million euros to the banks.
In the same interview Miranda Sarmento also justified the Government’s expectation, included in the State Budget proposal for 2026, of obtaining dividends in the order of one billion euros from Caixa Geral de Depósitos next year.
“Caixa sold a stake in Águas de Portugal to Parpública, which helps Caixa’s balance sheet”, highlighted the Finance Minister. “Caixa’s profits are increasing and, therefore, in conversation with Dr. Paulo Macedo, we established that Caixa would have the capacity to pay one billion in dividends in 2026,” he added.