The Association of Hotels, Catering and Similar Services of Portugal (AHRESP) called on parliamentary groups to discuss and defend the reduction of VAT to the reduced rate of 6% in food and beverage services, the association said on Thursday, August 5, in your daily newsletter.
«As the discussion of the State Budget for 2022 [OE2022] approached, AHRESP appealed to the parliamentary groups to put on their agenda the discussion and defense of the reduction of VAT [Value Added Tax] on food and beverage services for the reduced rate (6% in mainland Portugal, 5% in AR [Autonomous Region] of Madeira and 4% in AR of Azores)», informed the association.
For AHRESP, this measure “would strengthen the companies' treasury and would be a way to revitalize this economic activity, which has been one of the most penalized by the pandemic situation that still exists”.
Moreover, the association has been defending this proposal since the beginning of the pandemic, which is enshrined in its plan “Fighting the pandemic – Ensuring survival”, sent to the Government in mid-July, with 10 measures to compensate for tourist accommodation and the restoration of the effects of the pandemic, including the reinforcement of the Apoiar program, a new lay off simplified and credit and tax moratoria.
In that plan, AHRESP defends the temporary application of the reduced VAT rate to the entire food and beverage service, which currently varies between 9% and 23%.
The reduced rate of 6% in mainland Portugal, 5% in Madeira and 4% in the Azores applies, today, only to ready-to-eat meals, ready-to-eat and take-away regimes or with home delivery, in this case bread, fruit, chocolate and flavored milks, fruit or vegetable juices, nectars, milk, cheese and yoghurt.
According to AHRESP, "several countries in the European Union, and beyond, have been temporarily applying the reduced VAT rate to all food and beverage services, as they believe it is an essential measure to strengthen the liquidity of companies".
"The scope of this measure will be even more impactful, given the indirect and induced effect that our economic activities have on other sectors of the Portuguese economy, whether in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors (the entire value chain)", he stressed.
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