The Island Association of Hotel and Apartment Businessmen of Lanzarote (Asolan) has expressed its "outright opposition" to the implementation of the Construction, Installation and Works tax that the Tías City Council has taken up again. In this regard, it should be recalled that the City Council decided to recover this tax after having lost about two million from large works. However, the employers' association understands that "the measure will further worsen the economic situation, putting investment projects and works at risk".
"No one is unaware of the enormous difficulty that the tourism sector is currently going through, with a lost year 2020 and an uncertain 2021, in the face of a pandemic with anti-Covid-19 restrictions implemented at the national, regional and island levels, as well as in our main tourist issuing markets, and the closure of a large number of establishments due to the drastic drop in tourism without a scheduled opening date," says Asolan.
That is why the hotel association states that "it is neither understood nor comprehended" that, "in a framework in which the main administrations, at least at the level of declaration of intentions, try to lighten the tax burden of the governed, the Tías City Council intends to increase the tax burden by imposing the Tax on Constructions, Installations and Works (ICIO) in the worst year of economic and social crisis".
“This measure that Tías is adopting is totally contrary to the recommendations of experts to face this economic crisis, without a doubt, this decision will further suffocate the island's economy. It is evident and clear that the Tías City Council is going against the grain in terms of the battery of measures that are being pursued from the different levels of government to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus crisis,” he criticizes.
Requests its postponement "for at least one year"
From Asolan they warn that "there are actions both in the III Modernization Plan and outside the plan that could be compromised by the impact of this tax in a surprising way", for which they request its postponement "for at least one year".
“Many tourist establishments have already planned to carry out improvement works precisely in these months of closure due to the absence of tourists, and now they will find themselves with this new cost, so if the City Council does not give up, there will be a risk of losing many works, directly affecting the construction sector, the only sector that at this time can generate employment and economic activity,” say the hotel association.
Asolan considers that "the increase in tax burdens on tourism within the context of the crisis caused by Covid-19 also represents a serious contradiction in terms of the context of implemented measures to support the sector." Although the measures are insufficient, what is sought is to reduce the tax burden to facilitate survival and the loss of business fabric, and consequently favor the maintenance of employment," he adds.
Thus, the hotel association has presented allegations to the application of this tax, "in order to avoid its immediacy and delay its planned implementation by one year".
