Tourism sector asks the state authorities to reduce the tax burden. Sergei Glukhoverov, head of the Kyrgyz Association of Tour Operators announced today at a press conference.
According to him, the sector has not been able to recover from the crisis for two years. A large inflow of tourists is not planned this year, too. As a result, the cultural tourism sector could «die». To avoid this, representatives of the sector addressed an official letter to the Ministry of Economy and Commerce.
«We ask to lower the tax rates to 2 percent for non-cash payments and to 4 percent for cash payments and to remove the threshold for the value added tax. The VAT threshold is quickly passed, but the cost of services goes up because of the payment of VAT. However, our subcontractors — small guesthouses or drivers — are not VAT payers. As a result, we cannot take a credit to pay them for their work. Kyrgyzstan is already not a cheap country in terms of tourism. Air travel has become expensive, and it will rise in price even more. Prices will go up for the most standard tours. We hope that such measures will help us survive and set good prices for our global partners,» Sergei Glukhoverov said.
