BUSINESS leaders in South Craven and across North Yorkshire are calling for VAT rates to be cut in the hospitality sector.
York & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce says businesses badly hit during the pandemic still face major challenges, including slow trade and cost pressures.
VAT was temporarily reduced from 20 per cent to five for those in the hospitality, hotel and leisure industries, but was restored to its original level in March last year.
Andrew Pericleous, chair of the chamber's hospitality forum, says: "We believe conditions are sufficiently serious to warrant a reintroduction of the reduced rate.
"Data in the most recent British Chamber of Commerce quarterly economic survey showed the hospitality sector to be effectively in recession – many firms are struggling with labour shortages, and inflation and interest rates continue to make life incredibly challenging.
"Reducing the rate of VAT that firms in the sector pay would help provide some much-needed breathing space as we enter our quietest period of the year."
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