14. 10. 2013

ASMEDI: LOWER VAT FOR PRINT MEDIA

Belgrade, October 14, 2013 (Tanjug) - The managing board of the Association of Media (ASMEDI) has expressed concern over the announced increase of the special rate of VAT, as it would seriously affect the work of print media, struck by long economic and financial crisis.

As stated in the press release, the Association is implying additional reduction of special rate of value added tax for print media, as practiced in many European countries.

The explicit position of the European Newspaper Publishers Association (ENPA), with ASMEDI as a member, is that it is necessary to drastically drop the VAT rate for print media, including news agencies and digital editions.

"Having in mind the forthcoming accession talks with EU, we underline that VAT system for print media is currently going through a detailed evaluation by the EC, at the initiative of ENPA", it is said in the statement.

"In the situation where the circulation of daily newspapers and the advertising revenue has dropped for over 25 percent than last year, the increase of the VAT rate from 8 to 20 percent will destroy the print media industry in Serbia", the ASMEDI stated.