A Roscommon hotelier says it’s vital Government reverse its decision to increase the hospitality VAT rate in Spring 2023.
A levy of 9 per cent is set to be scrapped on February 28th with a rate of 13.5 percent coming into play.
However, Denyse Campbell is disappointed with yesterday’s Budget announcement and believes the reduced rate is integral to the sector’s continued recovery following Covid.
In response to claims that the VAT increase was partially down to ‘price gouging’ by some city hotels, the Strokestown native stated Dublin prices were in line with European cities. She says the price of hotels shouldn’t dictate policy.
The Irish Hotel Federation president will now lobby the Government to retract its decision:
"We feel its a short-term decision and we would always say that 95 is the correct VART rate for our sector and we've had a good summer and we performed very well but the 9% rate has been integral to that recovery.
We've managed to recover 90% of the jobs that we had pre-pandemic so that's fantastic for our industry so it's vital we continue on that journey and really continue to make the case to the Government that the 9% rate is the correct one for our industry."
