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SLASHING OF THE VAT rate for the tourism sector could be on the cards for the next government, but it cannot be reduced to 0%, according to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
Speaking in the Dáil, the Taoiseach said reducing VAT on the tourism and hospitality sector to 0% would be contrary to the EU VAT directive, stating “that is not possible for as long as we are a member of the European Union”.
“It would be possible for the next government to reduce it should it choose to do so, but that will be a matter for the next government,” he added.
There has been speculation that senior figures in both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael want to see the rate cut as the tourism sector is likely to be one of the most impacted sectors by Covid-19.
Yesterday, Junior Minister for Tourism Brendan Griffin said he supports calls for a 0% VAT rate to help them get through Covid-19.
“This is something I think is very necessary to give us a fighting chance to recover as quickly as possible and to take on the huge competition there is internationally.
“It is only when you go to places like the world travel market in London or the ITB in Berlin that you see the huge number of exhibitors that are there from all over the world.
“You realise how competitive it is for Ireland but also how well we do for tourism as we attract close to 11 million tourists per year.”
The Taoiseach said today that he “absolutely” agrees that we will need a tourism recovery task force “to get tourism going again”.
“I had the privilege of being Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in my first job in government and was able to oversee the implementation of the last report of the previous Tourism Recovery Taskforce, which led to record levels of tourism in Ireland. I believe that is possible again,” he said.
The Taoiseach was also asked about the possible changes in relation to the form people arriving in Ireland have to fill out about where they are socially isolating themselves for for 14 days.
It was revealed today that one in three people arriving into Ireland have not given their quarantine details to officials.
The forms are not yet mandatory, but the Taoiseach has indicated that they could be legislated for.
“They may well need to become mandatory. That is something we are considering at the moment… Making it mandatory for people to fill in forms in order to self-isolate for 14 days when they come to the country is not good for tourism. People will not come to Ireland if they have to isolate for 14 days.
“We need to get to the point where we can have air travel start again. I want air travel to start again for business and leisure but that will have to be done safely. That is being worked on at the moment.”
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Paper tax,insurance and nct discs should have been scrapped years ago. Failure to integrate systems and deploy anpr left the country using last century processes. Worthy of a case study to fix our inability to progress and deploy technology in a timely manner
@aYc221Lw: waste of cops time for €70. Even that could be done remotely.
I’m presuming this will mean there won’t be a charge for buying tax in instalments then for those who can’t afford to pay one year at a time? The government were able to charge 33% interest under current rules.
@James Groden: I’ll guess this will remain as its the same with Insurance, pay more over a longer period of installments.
@James Groden: Monthly direct debit should be the normal way to pay car tax.
@James Groden: a vehicle is not a right, if you choose to go into debt to drive ti is no ones proiblem but your own
What’s new about this? Discs haven’t been used on cars in most European countries for years. Just once it would be refreshing to come up with a new initiative.
UK got ride of Paper Tax disc years ago, the number of people not getting there cars taxed also went up, and they have ampr cameras. We don’t or body cams on cops or a functioning judicial service! What could possibly go wrong?!?!?!
@patrick kelly: actually your very wrong since paper discs were abolished the proportion of car drivers without tax has dropped dramatically. Less than 2 percent of U.K. vehicles are estimated to have no tax. It also helps that all U.K. police cars are equipped with .a.n.p.r ( automatic number plate recognition).
@Neil Brooks: actually your wrong
Paperless discs have been used in the UK since October 2014. The Sunday Times in the UK reported in 2015 that the decision to scrap the tax disc in cars resulted in £45 million a year in lost revenue.
@patrick kelly: quoting a 9 year old newspaper article?
@Nala Ytrennif: That’s when the change to paperless disc tax happened, Hench the report, so yes 9 year old facts that’s how facts work! If youe point is that the UK needed reg cameras to stop tax dodging when I think we already covered that as we don’t have any where near as many cameras in Ireland…
Great to see that Gardai dont have to man roadside checkpoints if Gat vans can just scan no plates & impose fines.
Or am I jumping ahead of the process?
What is really needed is for the motor reg crew to post notice to registered users that fail to renew that they have 14 days to pay up, or the car will be impounded. No prosecution process, no fines, just impound the wagon & register the debt, cumulatively, including pound costs.
Theres hardly a road in Ireland with untaxed vehicles a lot of which end up in wrong hands for wrong uses.
@William Kelly: there will always be a need for check points. ANPR can’t scan for driver under the influence of alcohol or drugs or can’t scan for a disqualified driver etc.
So just like the ukrainean cars
That’s my Baked Beans label redundant so ….
scrap the car tax , also the tv tax .
now that would help
@Dominic Leleu: and increase your income tax or vat? Has to come from somewhere
@reg morrisey: hopefully this has been before the courts and dealt with it not he will walk free
At last, an end to the “Banana Republic Confetti” is in sight.
in the near future, all non paid insurance, late nct and car taxes will just get filed to the justice system or revenue and people will automatically get fined.
at least it’s going this way. Why the guards would even get involved …
like permanent radars in bunkers already existing in europe, they will come up as well.
you get what you voted for….
@Dominic Leleu: i certainly hope so
@reg morrisey: It’s on RTÉ if your looking to read it so badly.
Get foreign plates so they dont pay tax dont have to either,problem solved
@reg morrisey: Sunday World covered it and believe it or not it’s on RTE. Journal.ie will probably put it up at midnight.
Well I know for a fact that in Spain while the authorities dont issue Road Tax Receipts, they do issue receipts for payments. And if you dont have the receipt, you car can be towed away. Most regions have no way of La Guardia Nacional or the Local Police anyway of checking by the roadside
Be able to see more out the windscreen! Good to see joined-up thinking too. All the discs should be gone, but, no harm to have them in the glove box when the system crashes.
@reg morrisey: jailed for 2 years 3 months
Older folk won’t be happy.
have your say