The deadline for the VAT relief for hotels has been changed because of the decision by the previous government. The prime minister told the press conference on Friday that there was no reason for the temporary relief, as hotels are a business that cannot distinguish their customers according to whether they are foreign businesses or end consumers.
She said that not being entitled to a zero VAT rate gives hotels a competitive non-logic environment, while the reduced VAT rate for caterers will stay in place until the middle of next year to ease the transition period.
The government is going to extend the relief for six months to ensure that the catering sector doesn't have to go through some major change in January when we will have higher electricity prices and other problems, Simonyte said.
She stated that the relief was introduced as a temporary measure, I initiated it as a temporary measure and I continue to hold this view.
The government said it had no plans to extend the VAT relief for restaurants despite businesses fearing that failure to do so would force some businesses to close.