To make the most of the wave of tourism that is driving the Italian economy the tourist tax could be extended to all municipalities that want to apply it and could become more expensive. It is, for now, only a hypothesis but already written down in black and white in a draft decree. And that is enough for the businesses in the hotel sector to take to the barricades and lash out against what they consider a betrayal of the government, also because the revenue from the increased tax could be diverted to waste collection and disposal, no longer just to interventions in the tourism sector as is the case now.
The draft of the law, which could be included in a future decree (perhaps as early as Wednesday in the last Council of Ministers before the summer break) redraws the perimeter of the tax paid by tourists. The tourist tax could be extended to all 7,904 Italian municipalities that want to apply it, while today only provincial capitals, unions of municipalities and tourist municipalities can apply it.
There would also be a remodulation of the amounts: up to 5 euros in the case of an overnight stay costing less than 100 euros, up to 10 euros for a room between 100 and 400 euros, up to 15 euros for accommodation between 400 and 750 euros, and it goes up to a maximum of 25 euros per day in extra-luxury hotels (over 750 euros per night)..
Furthermore, the proceeds would be allocated not only to interventions in the tourism sector but also to waste collection and disposal. The hypothesis worries the trade associations. Federalberghi is clear: tourism companies “do not agree with the proposal to further increase the tax”. Also because “only a few months have passed since, in view of the Jubilee, the maximum ceiling was raised by 40%, going from 5 to 7 euros per night and per person and the possibility of using it to cover the costs of waste collection was introduced, distorting the purposes of the institute”.
In practice, with the new change, hoteliers explain, for a room in a three-star hotel costing 100 euros, you will pay up to ten euros per night, “as if from one day to the next the weight of VAT, which is equal to 10%, were doubled”. Federalberghi asks the government to “impose correct budgetary discipline on local authorities, rather than providing them with the tools to worsen the situation.
Even Confindustria Alberghi is putting up a wall against the rule under considerationbecause accommodation facilities cannot be “a mere ATM for the Municipalities”. President Maria Carmela Colaiacovo says she is “surprised” that “after months of fruitful dialogue and discussion” we are “suddenly approving a text” that would seem to undermine “some of the cornerstones on which the reform under discussion was based”. This is especially true for the restriction on the destination of the revenue, created to support tourism activities, and which “instead of strengthening seems to be lacking” to cover the costs of the waste service.
#Tourist #tax #increases #businesses #build #wall #Bozza #rise #euros #extended #municipalities