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The Prime Minister explained that the draft VAT rebate project will continue to be considered in a complex manner in the Seimas Committee and the inclusion of the cultural sector will be considered.
“A similar situation or a similarly problematic situation would be various cultural events and the situation of performers and creators. Of course, far from all of them they are VAT payers, but some are. This is also the segment that is also severely affected and will be limited for a long time. I know that such a debate has arisen or initiatives have arisen, because it would also be allowed by EU law ”, says I. Šimonytė.
The chairman of the Seimas Budget and Finance Committee, Mykolas Majauskas, added that the draft temporary VAT rebate plan will be expanded to include not only catering service providers, but also sporting and cultural events.
“We are currently evaluating the experience of EU countries and calculating possible budget losses. In the near future, I hope to present the relevant amendments from the Committee on Budget and Finance, which would provide a temporary VAT rebate for cultural and sporting events”, says M. Majauskas.
Mykolas majauskas
He added: “We are currently analyzing in detail exactly which sectors would apply.”
I. Šimonytė mentioned that last year he was offered VAT relief as a member of the Seimas together with Mykolas Majauskas, but the government at the time did not support it.
“However, it was agreed that this discussion would be reactivated and had nothing to do with the effectiveness of the aid.” This is due to the simple fact that the restaurant sector, like some sectors, such as hotels, which already have a reduced VAT rate, will suffer the consequences of the pandemic for a longer time. This VAT rebate would act simply as a subsidy, and it would. “When it comes to VAT exemptions, very often there are all kinds of features that VAT relief does not have, such as price reductions and the like,” said the prime minister.
He assured that this is the sector where the losses will be greater and that this would be an additional support for companies, which are usually small and medium-sized. Earlier, the prime minister reported that the relief would be temporary.
It was previously announced that, in response to the difficult situation of catering establishments, operators are proposing to apply 9% to restaurants, bars, cafes and other non-alcohol catering establishments that are sold. VAT. These services are currently charged at the standard rate of 21%. VAT rate.
Planned VAT relief will be further extended
Business promises don’t promise
“Unfortunately, the epidemiological situation is such that we see no reason to talk about additional releases in the near future. And it is so good that representatives of commercial companies have managed to agree on a secure algorithm that would allow those companies to start too. However, considering that now our concern is different, in some places, around Vilnius in the first place, but therefore the epidemiological situation in Marijampolė is deteriorating fast enough, so I think we will not have opportunities to consider some additional releases in the coming weeks, ”said I. Šimonytė.
A few weeks ago it was debated that the holidays for supermarket stores could be accepted in the near future, but now the topic is set to return after Easter.
“We will be able to discuss discussions on these issues only after Easter and only on the condition that the epidemiological situation at least stabilizes during that time. At the moment, I cannot commit or promise that this will definitely be the case, because much depends on the behavior of residents and citizens, how much they will be able to test the chimneys, ”said the Prime Minister.
He explained that the extent to which sick people report their contacts “which may have been in violation of quarantine regulations” will be evaluated when they are able to identify the outbreaks.
“How successfully we will be able to do this in the next few weeks, so that we will soon be able to talk about additional mitigation. But now, sadly, we have no such plans,” said I. Šimonytė.
Nor has it yet promised a tightening of the quarantine.
“If I had a concrete answer, we would have made that decision today, because we need to assess what we really want to achieve and how we can best achieve it,” the prime minister said.
He mentioned that he had “two headaches”: the risk of Easter due to the movement of people in different situations between municipalities and the discovery of a strain of the South African coronavirus.
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