Portuguese tax rates soar

Per capita tax paid by Portuguese recorded 5,500 euros (7,533 U.S. dollars) last year, around 1,800 euros more than they did in 2000, according to local media reports on Friday. Portuguese citizens paid around 3,700 euros per capita in the year 2000, compared to around 5,500 euros last year, 1,800 euros more than they did 14 years ago, the National Institute of Statistics has revealed. Last year, the government took in close to 57.8 billion euros in fiscal revenue and social contributions, which accounted for 34.9 percent of the country's GDP. This is the highest amount the state has received from tax revenue since 1995, when the government collected 25.9 billion euros. Fiscal revenue increased by 4.5 billion euros compared to the previous year, mainly thanks to social income tax. The country also raised 900 million euros in corporate income tax last year. Council tax rose 160 percent between 2000 and 2013, earning the state 1.3 billion euros in 2013. In 1995, the country only gained 310 million euros from this kind of revenue. Portugal announced "enormous" tax hikes in 2012, in a frantic effort to keep the 78-billion-euro bailout program it signed in May 2011 with troika -- the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank -- on track, and has sparked regular protests across the country. The government promised last year that there would be no further raise in taxes, however, the state budget for 2014-18 showed the government intends to raise both VAT and single social tax further. Debt-ridden Portugal has been sticking to harsh austerity measures to meet its budget deficit reduction targets set by troika and regain economic growth in the past three years. The country will end its bailout program with troika with a "clean exit" on Saturday, and is trying to reduce its deficit to 4 percent of GDP this year and to 2.5 percent in 2015. (1 euro=1.37 U.S. dollars)