SAY NO TO « EQUITAX »

The French Government and the French equestrian delegates negotiated on Friday, 13th December in Brussels with the European Commission to determine which equestrian services may be subject to reduced rates of VAT, according to the VAT Directive and the judgment of the European Court of Justice in 2012.

The analysis of the judgment is not the same between the Commission and the French Government and delegates. On one hand, The European Commission and Mr Semeta now consider that no reduced rate could be applied to the equestrian sector. On the other hand, France underlines that the point 14 of the annexe III of the VAT Directive permits a reduced rate on charges for the use of sport facilities, including equestrian activities, as Mr Semeta answered to a member of the European Parliament in 2011*.

In view of this, after Paris, the French horse riders are taking to the streets of European cities.

On Monday 23th of December, many horse trucks will ride to European cities to let fly balloons in:

– Brussels

– Luxembourg

– Strasbourg

– Paris (French ministry of economy)

– Stuttgart

– Turin

– Barcelona

– The Hague

– Nantes (France)

– Le Mont St Michel (France)

France has about 700,000 horse-riders with a licence of the French Equestrian Federation, 82% of them are women. In France, about 2.3 million people usually ride. It is the third most popular sport in France.

The VAT increase would lead to the closure of 2,000 equestrian centres out of 7,000 with a loss of 6,000 jobs out of 40,000, in the next 18 months.
80,000 horses will be sent to the slaughterhouses.