The Algarve Rent-a-car Companies Association (ARA) today called on the Government to take deeper measures of budget support and suspend the payment of taxes to companies, currently with 95% of the fleet stopped.
"We have already sent the Government some measures that we consider essential for the sector, including the expansion of the lay off, the suspension of the payment of the Single Tax on Circulation and the fees applied at the ANA [Airports and Air Navigation] parks,” said Lusa Armando Santana, president of ARA, to the agency.
According to the director, companies in the sector "are facing an unprecedented crisis in the region", motivated by the covid-19 pandemic, "with the fleets of around 46 regional companies practically stopped for two months".
"Currently, only 5% to 6% of six percent of the fleet is working, due to contracts with companies and entities", he stressed, adding that it is not yet possible to account for the losses caused by the stoppage, although he estimates that they may increase to millions of euros.
“We were coming out of a low season with good prospects, for which companies made investments to increase their fleet, with the acquisition of new vehicles, costs that will have to be paid according to the models that the companies have contracted”, he said.
In view of the repercussions that the outbreak of the new coronavirus is having on tourism, a sector on which car rentals depend, ARA asked the Government to “expand the lay off for more months, an important measure to maintain the approximately 1.500 jobs in the sector”, in the region.
"There is a universe of 1.500 permanent workers and also a large number of hundreds of seasonal workers, whose jobs can be ensured with the expansion of the lay off”, stressed Armando Santana.
In the opinion of the director, as tourism is not expected to return to normal this year, there are other measures “essential to economically relieve companies, such as the suspension of payment of the IUC [Single Tax on Circulation]”.
"We do not want the exemption, but the temporary suspension of the payment of the tax to the State, a suspension that could be in force until the companies transacted the vehicles to the market and upon the registration of the new owner", he stressed.
For Armando Santana, it is just “a postponement of revenue for the State, as it would never be harmed, always ending up receiving the IUC for all vehicles”.
In addition to the suspension of payment of the IUC, entrepreneurs also want the suspension of payments on account and special on account, since companies are not expected to show profits this year.
“Given the current reality, it is almost certain that companies will show losses. That is why payments on account do not make sense”, argued the person in charge.
To alleviate the financial burden, ARA also asked the Government to suspend the fees applied at ANA's car parks, so that companies could park their vehicles there.
"As fleets are stationary and companies have parks with limited capacity and thousands of vehicles cannot be parked on public roads, we suggest that the fees charged by ANA in car parks near the airport be suspended. Faro"He said.
According to Armando Santana, the measures proposed by the rent-a-car entrepreneurs in the Algarve, “are feasible and helped to overcome the crisis in the sector”.
In the Algarve there are 46 regional rent-a-car companies, a number that does not include the multinational companies in the sector that also operate in the region.
Armando Santana said that the rent-a-car sector looks to the future with great apprehension, given the doubts that exist regarding the recovery of tourism in the country, and especially in the Algarve, a sector on which they depend.
“I believe that this year something can be recovered in tourism, essentially in terms of the national market, and not the foreign market, which are our main clients”, he concluded.
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