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Home / Portugal increases VAT on bullfighting from 6% to 23%

Portugal increases VAT on bullfighting from 6% to 23%

20-02-2020

Portugal increases VAT on bullfighting from 6% to 23%
The Parliament of Portugal decided to increase the VAT on bullfighting from 6% to 23%. The decision was taken following the vote on the state budget of 2020. CAS International considers this news to be a very positive development because the increase of VAT is a financial blow to the Portuguese bullfighting sector.

In Portugal, 23% tax is levied on most goods and services. Last year the parliament decided to reduce the VAT on bullfighting from 13% to 6% with the argument that it has a specific ‘cultural value’. Several political organizations, including the Socialists, the Bloco de Esquerda and the Portuguese Party for the Animals PAN did not find this justified and they voted in favor of the proposal to increase VAT to 23%.

Every year around 200 to 250 bullfights take place in Portugal. The majority of Portuguese are against bullfighting. In Portugal, bullfights take place in the Portuguese style (touradas or corridas de touros). Bulls from 4-6 years old are used for this type of bullfights, 6 bulls are used per tourada. The difference with the bullfights ‘Spanish style’ is that the main bullfighter ‘fights’ the bull from a horse and that the bulls are not killed under the watchful eye of the public but in the slaughterhouse of the bullring. However, that does not mean that bullfighting in Portugal is less cruel and bloody, rather the opposite. The bulls are injured to the same extent as during the bullfights in Spain but have to wait longer until they are released from their suffering. The vets are not always available, which means that it sometimes takes days for the injured bull to be slaughtered.

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