Hospitality: NI businesses losing out to 'significantly cheaper' bills across the border

Hospitality businesses in Northern Ireland are losing customers to the Republic of Ireland because bills "can be significantly cheaper" due to lower taxes across the border, a hotel owner has said. Selina Horshi says the situation is extremely challenging as the differing tax rates "makes a huge difference to your competitiveness". Businesses across Northern Ireland are calling for cuts to taxes in the hospitality sector, warning that rising costs and higher VAT rates are putting increasing pressure on already tight margins. In the UK, VAT is charged at 20% compared to 13.5% in the Republic of Ireland and that gap is set to widen with the rate for food-led hospitality dropping to 9% in the summer. Northern Ireland's finance minister has made the case for a system that allows businesses to compete in an all-island economy, but the Treasury said reducing the rate for hospitality on a regional basis would "introduce complexity". Businesses say a lower rate would allow hospitality to keep prices more affordable for the public. Colin Neill from Hospitality Ulster said the UK's higher VAT rate put Northern Ireland "at a huge competitive disadvantage". Horshi, who owns a hotel in County L