Call to cut VAT on bills.Byline: Stefanos Evripidou DEPUTIES AT the House Commerce Committee yesterday called on the government to cut VAT VAT See: Value-added tax VAT See value-added tax (VAT). on electricity prices as a way of avoiding the price increases sought by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus The Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) currently holds a monopoly on electricity generation in Cyprus although the market is open to other companies. It operates through three power stations:
Speaking before the committee, Commerce Minister Antonis Paschalides told deputies that the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority Noun 1. regulatory authority - a governmental agency that regulates businesses in the public interest regulatory agency administrative body, administrative unit - a unit with administrative responsibilities , CERA, had the final word on electricity prices. He said he could give his opinion but that it was CERA that would decide what to do about the EAC's request to increase electricity prices. Paschalides said CERA was studying a range of related issues, including the proposal to cut VAT, but also the option of reducing the EAC's operational costs and increasing its efficiency. "I know that there are many issues before CERA, including the issue of VAT," he said. The minister highlighted that nothing had been decided yet and that CERA was studying all possible alternatives to price increases. As for the prospect of cutting state finances further at a time when the Finance Minister appears to be scraping (1) Extracting data from output intended for the screen or printer rather than from original files or databases. For example, Web pages formatted in HTML are often scraped. the barrel, Paschalides said he will meet with Finance Ministry officials to discuss the proposal to reduce VAT on electricity as a way of avoiding price hikes. Committee chairman Lefteris Christoforou said it was "unacceptable" to expect the consumer to pay for the mistakes of successive governments. The DISY DISY Dimokratikos Synagermos (Greek: Democratic Rally, Cyprus) deputy called for the VAT on electricity prices to be cut so that the burden of funding the EAC's requirements does not fall on the public. DIKO's Angelos Votsis said electricity price increases should be a last resort during these times of crisis, while EDEK deputy Georgios Varnavas agreed that reduced VAT was preferred to price increases. The head of the EAC, Haris Thrasou, said the authority has entered into a dialogue with CERA and will submit all the relevant data backing up their request for more funds through price increases next week. Given current conditions, the EAC would now need more than the two per cent annual increase over a three-year period requested to CERA in 2006, he added. Copyright Cyprus Mail Cyprus Mail is a Cypriot English-language newspaper. It is published daily (except Mondays) and a number of articles are available online. Its current chief editor is Kosta Pavlowitch. The managing director is Kyriakos Iacovides. 2009 Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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