here is proof that governments never learn.
Yesterday, 1st September 2012
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Spanish arts fear tax hike tipping point
Spanish art institutions, already feeling the pinch of funding cuts, fear a steep hike in taxes on tickets to cultural events from Saturday could push them over the edge.
As of Sept. 1, Spainââ¬â¢s tax rate for a range of cultural activities will jump to 21 percent from 8 percent as part of a wider government plan to boost revenues, cut the deficit and avoid a full-blown European bailout.
Spain, which has produced Oscar-winning film director Pedro Almodovar and best-selling novelist Carlos Ruiz Zafon, has been crippled by a debt crisis following the abrupt collapse of a property boom in 2008 and is in the grips of its second recession in just a few years.
The arts industry warns that the tax hike will lead to a sharp drop in spectators, the closure of cinemas and yet more job losses in a country where unemployment is already running at 25 percent.
ââ¬ÅThe tax hike is a major setback for the development of Spanish arts and seriously injures a sector with huge economic and job potential,ââ¬Â the Spanish Society for Authors and Composers (SGAE) said.
It wants Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to go back to the drawing board.
More than 4,000 business associations in the culture industry have asked the government to grant a six-month moratorium at Fridayââ¬â¢s cabinet meeting in a last-minute bid to save an industry that accounts for 4 percent of gross domestic product and 550,000 jobs.
The associations , grouped together as UAEICE, said the tax hike would drive away 43 million spectators, cost 530 million euros ($662 million) in lost ticket sales, 4,500 jobs and lead to the closure of 20 percent of music, film and scenic art companies.
And, according to a study by global accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the government will have less than nothing to show for it, as its annual take from the arts would actually fall by nearly 10 million euros after the tax hike.
Similar tax increases on cultural activities in the Netherlands, Hungary and Portugal hurt tax revenues, forcing those governments to retract, PwC said.
Opposition parties have also pleaded with the ruling conservative Peopleââ¬â¢s Party to reconsider the new rule, which moves cultural activities into a general tax rate category from a reduced rate. But under huge EU pressure to cut costs, Rajoy is unlikely to change tack.
The new tax will be double the 10.1 percent average rate for the arts in the euro zone, according to newspaper El Pais.
of course, the pollyannas will focus on this" Similar tax increases on cultural activities in the Netherlands, Hungary and Portugal hurt tax revenues, forcing those governments to retract, PwC said."
there is a difference. most people love the arts. the general populace dislikes anything connected to the bankers and are in favor of the ftt.
