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FESTIVAL ORGANISERS SAY VAT CUT KEY TO WEATHERING CRISIS

 

Members of the Hungarian Festival Association (MFSZ) believe a reduction in the VAT rate on event ticket prices from 27% to 5% is necessary to help the industry get through the coronavirus crisis, the association’s chairman said in Monday’s edition of business daily Világgazdaság. István Márta said a survey of MFSZ’s 220 members also showed payroll tax support – of the type already enjoyed by companies in the tourism and catering sector – should be applied to the festival sector, and festival organisers should get wage support, too. Márta noted that the festival industry employs about 37,000 people directly and 370,000 indirectly. Festival organisers’ decline in business is expected to cause a loss of “at least 80 billion forints (EUR 232m)” in central budget revenue, he added. The government has decided to maintain the level of coronavirus related restrictions in a bid to prevent a second wave of the epidemic in Hungary.