Hoteliers and restaurateurs are protesting with a demand for 9% VAT to prevent bankruptcies in the industry, BNT reported.
Their first protest action is called "9 minutes of darkness for 9% VAT". It envisaged that at exactly 9:00 p.m., the lights and music would be turned off in establishments across the country for 9 minutes.
The industry points out that the 20% rate will lead to more gray economy, an outflow of customers and bankruptcies of companies. Restaurateurs claim that for the last 4 years 80 percent of establishments have been operating in daylight.
Richard Alibegov, Bulgarian Association of Establishments: "In Bulgaria, we are the only EU member state with all-season tourism, which will have a rate of 20%, the other countries are Denmark, Latvia, Estonia - countries where there is definitely no tourism. Of all our competitors with whom we are trying to compete and with whom we will not be able to compete, all have had a reduced rate in the hotel and restaurant industry since 2008."