Rental car law change “will hurt tourism”

People planning a trip to the Faroes will hesitate if they know they cannot rent a car here.

This is the view of Árni Olsen, the head of the Tourism Association, who says that targeting the entire rental car market, the new amendment should be targeted at the few car dealers who violate the current law.

Olsen’s comments come in the wake of finance minister Kristina Háfoss’ announcement last week that she wants car dealers to pay more VAT for selling vehicles which were originally registered as rental cars.

One of the reasons for the proposal is the suspicion that some car dealers register vehicles as rental cars but instead of actually renting them out, they are being sold VAT-free after only a few months, Háfoss said last week.

The proposal is currently being discussed in the Financial Committee, and the Tourism Association has now requested talks with the Financial Committee about the proposal.

No car dealers or car rental companies were available for comment.

See also: Rental car Act accelerated

Translated by prosa.fo