Hairdressers protest over IVA hike as 5,000 salons forced to cease trading
Thursday, February 20, 2014 @ 9:28 AM
HAIRDRESSERS are calling for finance minister Cristóbal Montoro to drop IVA on their services from the highest-rated 21 per cent to the 'middle rate' of 10 per cent in a bid to stop more salons being forced out of business.
They say they have had to absorb the IVA increase – which went up from eight per cent in September 2012 after a tax rise and their being pushed into the top band – since otherwise, they would not have any customers.
But the result of this is a dramatic drop in takings, which means a huge number of salons across the country are struggling to survive, with many saying every cent of their profits goes into staying open with nothing left for the owners to live on.
Since the IVA rise 18 months ago, a total of 5,000 of Spain's 48,000 salons have shut down for financial reasons, leaving 20,000 residents on the dole, and it is predicted that by the end of this year, another 5,600 will go out of business, leaving 14,000 more people unemployed.
Protest marches in the streets on Monday took place in 23 provinces in Spain at the same time.
Some 200 hairdressing employees and their customers took to the streets in Barcelona, blocking off the traffic on main roads.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com