Finance Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) on Monday presented another part of his tax and levy "revolution", this time focusing on restaurants and the self-employed. He wants to introduce a recreational and gastronomy bonus worth €300 for every person aged above 60, who was or will get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the period July 1-December 12, 2021. The bonuses are to be applied in restaurants in 2022 as a measure to support domestic tourism. The VAT tax for restaurants should be slashed to 10 percent, on the condition that the restaurants introduce child menus, meaning halved portions for every meal at half the full price, and eco menus. A jug of water should be offered automatically free-of-charge with every meal and changes are to be introduced to the system of tipping. According to Matovic's estimates, such a measure would cost the state €40 million. The Finance Minister wants the tipping to be incorporated into the official receipt, and make up 9 percent of the entire sum VAT-free. "Of course, if you're not happy, you can ask for the tip to be left out before your waiter brings you the bill," he claimed, adding that this should exert pressure on quality particularly in tourism facilities.
Matovic also wants the self-employed and tradespeople to pay fair taxes. Levies for tradespeople and the self-employed should be cut by 25 percent compared to those paid by employees. Tradespeople should pay only a flat tax of 29 percent that should include both taxes and levies. "With this single payment off their entire income, they settle all their obligations towards the state," proposed the minister.
Finance Minister Igor Matovic is once again trying to reinvent the wheel and is performing nonsensical marketing moves with his tax reform concerning restaurants, the extra-parliamentary Voice-SD party has stated, adding that ideas such incorporating tips into the bill at 9 percent of the entire sum VAT-free, and forcing restaurants to serve customers a jug of water free of charge and offer half-portion meals on their menus is but another example of his incompetence. According to the party, Matovic “shouldn’t abuse his post in order to deal with his children’s dissatisfaction with a specific establishment”, and if he actually wants to help restaurants, all he needs to do is to adopt Voice’s proposal to cut VAT for the hospitality sector to 5 percent on a temporary basis and automatically raise it to 10 percent after a year.
Source: TASR
