Petition || Hoteliers and restaurateurs met in Pombal this week to draw up the latest round of battle-plans in a bid to save their sector from its lingering death.
As ever, the ‘scourge’ in their midst was the country’s “sky-high” IVA (VAT) rating of 23% – approved by the government in 2011 and representing a 77% increase on the previous level of 13%.
Says AHRESP (the country’s association of hoteliers and restaurant owners), the “incredible” increase is an injustice which makes no sense prolonging. It has already jettisoned hundreds of businesses into bankruptcy, and destroyed the jobs of thousands of otherwise unskilled workers.
Politicians are already “discussing how to bring down income tax”, they have already eased up on company tax levels (IRC), it is therefore “imperative” that they act on the “last opportunity for survival of businesses in this sector”, claims the association.
“We are not asking for IVA to be lowered,” it added in a press release. “We are fighting for it to be replaced to the level it was before.”
AHRESP has now gathered a 20,000-strong petition which it plans to present to parliament.
Up until now, politicians have steadfastly refused to see AHRESP’s point of view.
Detailing the IVA situation in other countries, the association highlights how Portugal’s increase has been higher than any other in the EU.
Taking the community as a whole, IVA levels for 28 countries average out at 13.1%, while the 18 states in the economic and monetary union have an average IVA rate of 15.7%.
Speaking in Coimbra earlier this year, AHRESP president Mário Gonçalves said the worst regions affected by the IVA hike in 2011 were Lisbon and Porto, where “at least 3,000 businesses have gone to the wall”.
