VILNIUS — Lithuanian parliamentarian Vaidotas Bacevičius has proposed reducing the value-added tax on printed publications back to its original level before it was hiked as an anti-crisis measure in Jan. 2010.

While Bacevičius and other Homeland Union-Christian Democrat union members acknowledge that a revenue loss may occur, the party asserts that publications will likely lower prices to increase turnover, which would [private_supervisor]regenerate the tax revenue at the lower rate that would kick in July 1.

The VAT increase from 5 percent to 19 percent for newspapers and magazines was undertaken as an emergency measure by in Jan. 2009. Later in the year it was upped to 21 percent. The measure was lambasted by the Lithuanian press, especially coupled with a 40 percent decline in advertising spending in 2009 and a doubling of income taxes for journalists, as print media companies say the special lower tax rate is needed for their industry.

“The Lithuanian media … cannot export their product to other countries. We have a very small market. There’s a maximum of three million readers in Lithuania. If we have higher taxes, we can’t go to another market, like someone who sells tables, who sells shoes. Someone who can’t sell shoes in Lithuania can sell them to Poland, to Bulgaria, to the United States maybe,” Mantas Dubauskas, economics editor at Lietuvos Rytas told Baltic Reports.

In addition to the print media, the VAT on hotel room stays was increased, something lodging facilities in Lithuania have been protesting throughout the past year with intentional power cuts. However, hotels are not included in Bacevičius’ proposal.

Like its southern neighbor, Latvia raised the taxes on the media and hotels at the beginning of 2009, but in March the government was reduced the rate from 21 percent to 10 percent for both to stimulate the tourism industry and ease the financial troubles of the media. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]regenerate the tax revenue at the lower rate that would kick in July 1.

The VAT increase from 5 percent to 19 percent for newspapers and magazines was undertaken as an emergency measure by in Jan. 2009. Later in the year it was upped to 21 percent. The measure was lambasted by the Lithuanian press, especially coupled with a 40 percent decline in advertising spending in 2009 and a doubling of income taxes for journalists, as print media companies say the special lower tax rate is needed for their industry.

“The Lithuanian media … cannot export their product to other countries. We have a very small market. There’s a maximum of three million readers in Lithuania. If we have higher taxes, we can’t go to another market, like someone who sells tables, who sells shoes. Someone who can’t sell shoes in Lithuania can sell them to Poland, to Bulgaria, to the United States maybe,” Mantas Dubauskas, economics editor at Lietuvos Rytas told Baltic Reports.

In addition to the print media, the VAT on hotel room stays was increased, something lodging facilities in Lithuania have been protesting throughout the past year with intentional power cuts. However, hotels are not included in Bacevičius’ proposal.

Like its southern neighbor, Latvia raised the taxes on the media and hotels at the beginning of 2009, but in March the government was reduced the rate from 21 percent to 10 percent for both to stimulate the tourism industry and ease the financial troubles of the media. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]regenerate the tax revenue at the lower rate that would kick in July 1.

The VAT increase from 5 percent to 19 percent for newspapers and magazines was undertaken as an emergency measure by in Jan. 2009. Later in the year it was upped to 21 percent. The measure was lambasted by the Lithuanian press, especially coupled with a 40 percent decline in advertising spending in 2009 and a doubling of income taxes for journalists, as print media companies say the special lower tax rate is needed for their industry.

“The Lithuanian media … cannot export their product to other countries. We have a very small market. There’s a maximum of three million readers in Lithuania. If we have higher taxes, we can’t go to another market, like someone who sells tables, who sells shoes. Someone who can’t sell shoes in Lithuania can sell them to Poland, to Bulgaria, to the United States maybe,” Mantas Dubauskas, economics editor at Lietuvos Rytas told Baltic Reports.

In addition to the print media, the VAT on hotel room stays was increased, something lodging facilities in Lithuania have been protesting throughout the past year with intentional power cuts. However, hotels are not included in Bacevičius’ proposal.

Like its southern neighbor, Latvia raised the taxes on the media and hotels at the beginning of 2009, but in March the government was reduced the rate from 21 percent to 10 percent for both to stimulate the tourism industry and ease the financial troubles of the media. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]regenerate the tax revenue at the lower rate that would kick in July 1.

The VAT increase from 5 percent to 19 percent for newspapers and magazines was undertaken as an emergency measure by in Jan. 2009. Later in the year it was upped to 21 percent. The measure was lambasted by the Lithuanian press, especially coupled with a 40 percent decline in advertising spending in 2009 and a doubling of income taxes for journalists, as print media companies say the special lower tax rate is needed for their industry.

“The Lithuanian media … cannot export their product to other countries. We have a very small market. There’s a maximum of three million readers in Lithuania. If we have higher taxes, we can’t go to another market, like someone who sells tables, who sells shoes. Someone who can’t sell shoes in Lithuania can sell them to Poland, to Bulgaria, to the United States maybe,” Mantas Dubauskas, economics editor at Lietuvos Rytas told Baltic Reports.

In addition to the print media, the VAT on hotel room stays was increased, something lodging facilities in Lithuania have been protesting throughout the past year with intentional power cuts. However, hotels are not included in Bacevičius’ proposal.

Like its southern neighbor, Latvia raised the taxes on the media and hotels at the beginning of 2009, but in March the government was reduced the rate from 21 percent to 10 percent for both to stimulate the tourism industry and ease the financial troubles of the media. [/private_subscription 1 year]

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