​Hospitality guild welcomes decision to open terraces, recommends bailout measures

The hospitality and tourism guild in the Croatian Chamber of Crafts and Trades (HOK) on Thursday welcomed the announcement that bars with terraces will be allowed to reopen, but recommended a series of bailout measures because due to weather conditions, only some establishments will be able to work.

The guild recommended that permits to serve outdoors be extended and for outdoor serving areas to temporarily be expanded where possible.
 
The guild also asked that the due deadline for VAT be extended to two months for the period that epidemiological measures that restrict business are in force.
 
Another recommendation is that raw material in hospitality be exempt of VAT due to special circumstances in order to enable cash flow as well as abolishing monthly advance payments on income and profit tax until 31 December 2021. Those tax exemptions would ensure that certain funds remain available to cover current business expenses and ensure liquidity.
 
They also called for a one-off allowance for the hospitality sector. HOK recommended that the hospitality sector be approved a grant of 3% of their gross 2019 turnover in order to be able to procure basic provisions and prepare for reopening.
 
The guild advocates that current liabilities be rescheduled by arranging with commercial banks that all of their financial liabilities (principal, interest) on all types of loans be deferred until 2022 or for an additional 12 months after a consensus is reached.
 
The president of HOK's guild Joso Smolić underscored that bar owners primarily expect the continuation of existing economic measures - jobkeeping measures and allowances for fixed costs while the coronavirus crisis lasts. (Hina)

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