In Latvia, representatives of the industry are planning a protest action at the Saeima, in Lithuania protesters will gather at the government building, and in Estonia the protest action will take place in all restaurants.
“The protest action will take place for all of us at the same time,” said Šiškauskiene, who is organizing the protest action in Lithuania.
Šiškauskiene said that representatives of the industry are scheduled to meet with government representatives in Vilnius. An audiovisual message about the current situation will be played simultaneously in all Lithuanian restaurants and cafes.
It has already been reported that the representatives of the Latvian hospitality industry plan to ask public catering services to set a reduced rate of value added tax (VAT) in the amount of 12% in a protest at the Saeima. It is planned that representatives and members of the Latvian Hotel and Restaurant Association, the Latvian Restaurant Association, the Latvian Bar Association, the Latvian Bartenders’ Federation and the Latvian Wine News Association, as well as other supporters of the industry, will participate in the protest.
In Estonia, all restaurants, cafes and guest accommodation places will not serve customers on October 31 from 12:30 to 12:40 in order to pay attention to the government’s tax policy, the Estonian Hotel and Restaurant Association announced.
“We cannot remain silent and accept that Estonians have to pay more in taxes than other Europeans, and leisure opportunities are becoming more expensive for most. We cannot stand by and watch as the country, instead of increasing exports and promoting business, only raises taxes , rather than contributing to economic recovery,” said Killu Maidla, head of the Estonian Hotel and Restaurant Association, adding that this is the first industry protest in the country.
In addition, the purpose of the campaign is to emphasize that Estonian tourism has not yet recovered from the crises and that the country, by worsening the tax environment, is losing tourism revenues, allowing them to go to the coffers of other countries.
In Lithuania, it was decided that such a protest would have too much influence on catering companies, which are also struggling to survive without it.
“And yes, consumption has dropped a lot, and if you scare them and shut them down [protesta laikā – BNS]then people can go bankrupt immediately. The situation is so bad that you can’t even imagine,” said Šiškauskiene.
According to the data of the State Data Agency, the turnover of restaurants, cafes and other catering companies in Lithuania in January-August reached 1.056 billion euros (without VAT), which is 7.3% less than last year.
From January of this year, the standard VAT rate of 21% is again applied to catering establishments in Lithuania. From July 2021, a 9% VAT rate was in effect to help companies affected by the pandemic.
The current VAT rate for the hospitality sector in Estonia is in line with the European average, but if it is raised to 13% next year, it will become one of the highest in Europe. VAT for the catering sector has already been increased by two percentage points this year and will be increased by the same amount next year as well. A VAT rate of 24% means that the Estonian restaurant industry will be taxed twice as much as the European average.