Taxes based only on hotel size are ‘completely out of touch with business reality’

TAXES imposed on hotels by local authorities have been labelled antiquated, anti-business and anti- competitive by the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) president, Annette Devine.

Speaking yesterday at the IHF’s 69th annual conference in Cavan, Ms Devine said local authorities extract taxes relative to the size of premises without any reference to the level of turnover or overheads of the business.

“This is completely out of touch with the reality of business today. Thanks to technology and greater efficiencies, many businesses and professions generating substantial turnovers operate out of significantly smaller premises. The reality is that the hotel sector is disproportionately subsidising local authorities and their services,” she said.