Tax Payments of Hotels Fell by 5.9%

In 2014, Azerbaijan’s 535 hotels and hotel-type facilities paid taxes to the state budget at only 28.2 million manats. This includes the VAT included in the price of hotel rooms.

According to Turan in the State Statistics Committee, last year's revenue of hotels from accommodating guests, sale of food and beverages, as well as services rental of premises for various events, etc. amounted to 181 million manats, an increase of about 10 million manats. The costs of operation of hotels for the year grew by only 1.6 million manats and reached 147 million manats.

Despite the increase in income, tax payments of companies providing hotel services for the year fell by 1,750,000 manats or 5.9%.

According to the SSC, hotels of Azerbaijan have more than 9 thousand workers. Over the past year the number rose by 750 people.

Hotels usually do not disclose their financial performance. Many of them have double-entry bookkeeping, in order to evade taxes.

Several years ago, the owners of hotels campaigned to eliminate the value added tax for the hotel business. --08B