Czech Prime minister Andrej Babiš has proposed that the VAT rate for companies in the accommodations sector be reduced from 15 to 10 percent. He justified the move, saying the Czech VAT rate for such services are the third highest in Europe anyway, and that the impact of the coronavirus is likely to be long-term. He added that the government was already preparing a new support program for companies in the tourism sector and said that the closure of the country’s borders meant it would be the hardest hit. “We have to come up with a program that would support investments into our accommodations capacity,” he said. The government is due to discuss a proposal by the Ministry of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček under which the state would cover half of the rent charges for businesses that were closed from March 12 until the end of June. Under the plan, landlords would cover 30 percent of the remainder while the tenants themselves would be on the hook for just 20 percent.
