When the first summer holidaymakers drove on board the ferry to Samsø, the ticket was significantly more expensive than it had been in the earliest summer weeks.
Previously, you could get a lower price on the combined ticket for a car with passengers if you went on summer vacation in week 26, 27, or 32.
After the new VAT rules on the combined ticket, Samsø Rederi had to find 1.9 million kroner, and therefore they were forced to raise the price by between 25 and 40 percent during the high season.
And that has meant a decline in passengers, says traffic director Carsten Kruse.
"In weeks 26, 27, and 32, we could have used the cheaper tickets. The idea with cheaper tickets in those weeks is precisely to create more growth on the island. This year, we have seen a decline of between five and ten percent in those weeks," says Carsten Kruse.
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VAT rules on ferry tickets
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The old rules:
* VAT was only calculated on the ticket for the car.
* Passengers in the car were not subject to VAT.
* This made it possible to place a larger portion of the ticket price on the passenger part and thus avoid VAT.
The new rules:
* The VAT portion must now be calculated in a new way.
* The VAT-liable part of a combined ticket is found by subtracting the price for one passenger from the total ticket price.
* The rest of the amount is considered subject to VAT.
Consequences for the island municipalities:
* Fanø, Læsø, and Samsø together risk an additional expense of over 10 million kroner.
* The municipalities can either: raise ferry prices by up to approximately 10 percent, or find the money elsewhere in the budget.
The shipping company is owned by Samsø Municipality, so it is the municipality that must find the nearly two million kroner. And even though 1.9 million kroner may not sound like much, in Samsø Municipality's view it is a large sum of money, says the municipality's mayor.
"If we compare with our neighboring municipality Aarhus, it would correspond to Aarhus Municipality having to find 200 million kroner, as they are about 100 times larger than us," says Per Urban Olsen, who is the conservative mayor on the island.
Also read: Susanne takes the ferry when she needs to pick up her grandchild – suddenly the price has doubled ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/susanne-tager-faergen-naar-hun-skal-hente-sit-barnebarn-pludselig-er-prisen-blevet-fordoblet )
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A vicious spiral
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According to Per Urban Olsen, the new VAT rules work against the land road principle, which states that it should cost the same to cover the distance by ferry as it would by road.
A subsidy that otherwise meant lower prices on the ferry and more tourists to the island.
>
> This year we have seen a decline of between five and ten percent in weeks 26, 27, and
> 32
> Carsten Kruse, traffic director at Samsø Rederi
"When we have lowered ferry fares, traffic figures have increased, so it can only fall again when we then raise the fares. And that affects the island's businesses in the end. So this is a vicious spiral we end up in," says the mayor.
It is not only the ferry to Samsø that is affected by the new VAT rules. All ferries sailing within Danish borders are affected.
And that is something the industry organization Danish Shipping regrets.
"It is a problem in the sense that it leads to higher prices for passengers. We would prefer to avoid inconveniencing passengers."
"Therefore, we urge that a political re-examination of these rules be undertaken, so that a solution can be found that is not as costly," says Jacob Clasen, deputy CEO of Danish Shipping.
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