Evalda Šiškauskienė, the president of the Lithuanian Hotels and Restaurants Association, said that a 9-percent VAT rate would be completely acceptable for the industry.
What is most important is that Lithuanian hotels are not forced to pay significantly higher taxes than those in neighboring countries and that Lithuania's tourism sector is competitive, she said.
Grybauskaitė last Friday sent amendments to the Law on Value Added Tax, providing for a 5-percent VAT for hotels, back to the Seimas (parliament) for reconsideration. The president thinks that the rate for hotels could be reduced to 9 percent.
The standard VAT rate is 21 percent.
