Pingo Doce to appeal €9.6 million Single Social Tax bill

The owner of the supermarkets chain Pingo Doce, Jerónimo Martins, is to appeal in court a €9.6 million tax bill to cover the Single Social Tax.

The Single Social Tax, or TSU, is the amount that companies and employees pay every month to Social Security. It is a national insurance contribution. The authorities claim the company hasn’t paid the €9.6 million owing.

According to Jornal de Negócios, the €9.6 million demanded had gone unpaid although in its consolidated first half results, the supermarket chain explains that in July the Social Security Institute had notified the the subsidiary Pingo Doce – Distribuição Alimentar, SA that a “voluntary” payment of €9.6 million for the Single Social Tax (TSU) had not been paid for the period of May 2021 to September 2023.

However, Pingo Doce says that the contributions referred to are “not outstanding”, and supported by the opinion of lawyers and external tax consultants – through suitable legal processes and within applicable timeframes – “will contest the legality of the same”.

The rates are divided into two parts and are applied over the gross salary of the employee, being: 23.75% attributable to the company and 11% attributable to the worker.

As an example, if a certain individual earns a monthly income of €1000 gross. Based on this amount, the employer has the responsibility to pay €237.50 and the employee has the responsibility to pay €110,00. However, although the 11% is payable by the employee, it is the employer who has to pay the amount to the State.