The catering business associations accuse the Government of abandoning the sector and forcing businessmen to take extreme measures in their businesses, namely the reduction of personnel, by increasing the VAT from 13 to 23 percent. The increase in the fee to be charged to restoration was approved today, Tuesday, in the Assembly of the Republic.
In a joint statement, the Portuguese Association of Hotels, Catering and Tourism (APHORT) and the Association of Hotel and Similar Industries of the Algarve (AIHSA) say they welcome the Government's decision "with great displeasure and concern" and say that it will be necessary to "extinguish posts of labor", since human resources are "the only item where companies can act to cancel the effect of the increase in VAT".
"Because the efforts made by the two Associations to negotiate alternative solutions with the Government have proved fruitless, as well as all the appeals made by numerous national and European entities (namely the European Confederation of the sector - HOTREC), both organizations come with apprehension the future of restoration, which will necessarily have to restructure itself to adapt to this new reality», reads the statement sent to the newsrooms.
Therefore, APHORT and AIHSA consider that this is a time to «reflect on the future of the sector» and promises to «follow up on the work they have been developing in order to provide their members with the necessary tools to do so. given the current economic context”.
“The closure of a large number of establishments and a greater incentive to the shadow economy will be other scenarios that will need to be taken into account. In this sense, APHORT and AIHSA continue to defend the creation of measures to combat the parallel economy that allow, on the one hand, to generate more revenue for the State and, on the other, to curb unfair competition and create greater transparency in the sector." also defended the two associations.
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