The Cathaoirleach of the Cashel District says local jobs will be lost due to the increase in the hospitality VAT rate.
The reduced 9% rate ended with the Government bringing it back to 13.5% at the start of the month.
Local Fine Gael Councillor Declan Burgess told Tipp Today earlier that this would impact badly on the hospitality sector.
He says the government will have to act in next month’s Budget.
“It certainly will. Businesses face an increasingly bureaucratic system and I think the increase at this time…we’re coming up to the Budget and I think the Government will need to make a call on this. I know they extended it so many times and they had to increase it this time. But I think it’s a devastating blow – it’s a crippling measure into business. It doesn’t just hit food related businesses, it hits the barbers and the hairdressers as well who are somehow in that VAT rate.”
