Vlaams Belang does not want to stop the reduced rate of 6 percent VAT for the hospitality industry, as Minister of Finance Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V) announced this weekend. "That tariff was temporarily introduced as a support measure due to corona," says federal member of parliament Kurt Ravyts. "The termination of this support measure is irresponsible, since the vast majority of the hospitality industry is far from over the corona crisis."" The agony of the hospitality industry is not yet fully behind us," says Ravyts.

"After the very long forced closure, people are only open for a few months, and often not even at full capacity." Vlaams Belang emphasises that many catering operators have had to use up their savings in order to be able to continue to pay the rents, for example." An extension of the 6 percent VAT scheme for the hospitality industry until the end of this year is absolutely necessary to give our catering operators some financial breathing space again""Also do not forget that many catering staff have found work elsewhere during the forced closure, and that the operators now have to look for new staff and are therefore also faced with an extra training cost", thus still Ravyts." Vlaams Belang initially asks that the deadline be extended to 31 December 2021, and that the tariff reduction should apply to all products," ravyts concludes. "In a second phase, we are calling for a definitive rate reduction to 6 percent for all restaurant and catering services. Vlaams Belang has already submitted a bill on this subject earlier this year."