The VAT rate could soon be raised again to 19% in the catering sector. To relieve the restaurants, the rate was reduced to 7% during the corona pandemic for a limited period until December 31, 2023. In an open letter, HANS IM GLÜCK now makes it clear what another increase means for the catering trade. The franchise company is thus targeting more than 300 German politicians.
The effects of the pandemic are still being felt in the hospitality industry – staff shortages, absent customers and business closures. According to the Federal Statistical Office, between 2020 and 2021 more than 36,000 companies went out of business* – that is an industry loss of 16.1%. But it will hardly stay that way. As the General Manager of the Dehoga Federal Association, Ingrid Hartges, recently announced in an interview with the ahgz (Allgemeine Hotel- und Gastronomie-Zeitung), the situation for restaurateurs is clearly coming to a head. With the open letter, HANS IM GLÜCK is now responding to your call to take the initiative and actively approach politics.
1,000,000 hospitality jobs threatened
The increase in VAT by twelve percentage points will affect around 150,000 taxable gastronomy companies** in Germany, including over 90 HANS IM GLÜCK branches and around one million jobs.*** not considered inside is incomprehensible for the burger grill company. For example, the VAT rate for everyday items is 7%, including groceries if they are purchased in retail or ‘to go’. The same tax rate also applies to leisure activities, such as going to the cinema, theater or hotel, according to HANS IM GLÜCK in his appeal to politicians.
Socializing is a fundamental right
The fact that restaurants in particular, which are to be perceived as a combination of processed food and a leisure activity, are to be upgraded for tax purposes again in 2024, raises questions for the franchise company. In addition, restaurants, bars, snack bars and many other gastronomic establishments form the center of our society as public spaces for social interaction. To protect these places of friendship, family and get-together and to stand up for the basic right to socialize, that’s what the franchise restaurant from Munich is all about. The company hopes to use the open letter to set an example for the industry, to bring clarity to arguments and to make the gastronomic perspective heard so that an increase in VAT can be politically averted.
