The Consumerist: Times are tough in Spain, with new austerity measures prompting everyone, including businesses, to tighten their belts and stretch their wallets. After the government slapped a 21% tax on theater tickets, one theater in a small town came up with quite a clever way to avoid shelling out extra cash — he sells carrots instead of tickets, and then “gives” performances away for “free.”
10 comments:
Well, props to this theater director for thinking up this scheme! It's sad that theaters have to resort to this kind of shaky, "tricks" method in order to keep selling tickets at a reasonable price and keep audience members flowing through. The austerity measures in Europe are hitting the arts and education departments hard, as governments often see them as a last priority, leading to this stories like this. I think this is definitely a very good and inventive way to solve the problem, and hope that this theater will be able to maintain its operations.
Ha, "For the Health of Culture." So this is a really clever idea for a regional theater to stay afloat facing such extreme taxes. But I feel nervous, because as much as this is an entertaining story to hear, I feel like in order for the carrot selling to continue working for this theater it needs to be much more under the radar. They're getting just as much positive rebellious attention as they are getting attention from people who are labelling them tax evaders and possibly getting them into legal trouble. It seems like the success of the carrot venture is going to the heads of the people in charge. I think they should be a lot more careful about this rather than flouting it everywhere, because it is still kind of illegal and could just get the theater shut down anyways.
This is really a clever scheme and it deserves congratulations. I think its horrible that the tickets are being taxed 21% in Spain. That must hit the theaters hard. Having 21% of all ticket sales could practically shut down a small theatre with a tight budget. Although no one should have to "sell carrots" to survive, I think it was a brilliant idea on the theatre directors part. I worry about this because of the fact that it is most likely illegal to do, but I hope that they find a way to present theatre and not loose 21% of their income on every performance. It's as if they are attempting to make the theatre die in Spain...
The 21% tax on ticket sales in Spain is ridiculous. I understand that the Spanish economy right now is really bad, but having a 21% tax on theaters is cruel, in my opinion. Not only will this tax put many theaters out of business, but it will only worsen the economic state in Spain by increasing their unemployment rates. The director of this theater came up with a really great and almost sneaky way to get around this tax. I wonder if other theaters will hear about this director's plan and follow suit. However, unfortunately, it seems as if the Spanish government would not let theaters get away with this plan. Hopefully the Spanish government will not punish its citizens by bankrupting the entertainment industry in Spain.
Although I am in favor of higher taxes I don't think entertainment is the place to start. Already a floundering sector increasing taxes will do more harm then good. In California they tried to pass a bill last year that would make it such that tickets to entertainment (excluding sports and concerts) were taxed. When asked about it the man that wrote the bill stated that he though that there should be taxes on entertainment that only the one percent was attending. EXCUSE ME, have you tried to purchase a sports or concert ticket in the past ten years, at least theater is attempting to have affordable deals. I don't think there is a good solution to taxing arts organizations and I don't really think loopholes are that great either (although witty and pretty ballsy). I just think that there is a lot of stigma associated with the value of arts and it is viewed as a luxury and not a necessity, so people feel like they can tax the shit out of us and make us go bankrupt.
While I think it's a good way of getting around having to pay the higher taxes, I think the directors of this theater need to seriously consider what they're doing. By bypassing the ticket tax, the theater is committing fraud. This will end up having consequences that could end up being bigger than the taxes would be if the company just paid the taxes. Is taking the legal risk worth it? Also, if my theater was doing something illegal, I sure wouldn't broadcast it on the internet.
I also strongly question Zoe's statement "I am in favor of higher taxes I don't think entertainment is the place to start." What is the right place to start? Is it somewhere that isn't linked to our industry? You can't really say you're in favor of higher taxes and then qualify it by saying 'except when I have to pay them'. If you're going to tax one area, it's only fair to tax another area. Just like income tax. If you're going to tax one financial class it's only fair to tax them all. As far as being able to tax the arts because they are a luxury, that's actually pretty true. You can survive without the arts. Things like food, clothing, oxygen, those you can't live without. However, a person is perfectly capable of living without the arts. If you agree with taxing cigarettes and alcohol because they are a luxury and people chose to spend their money on them, then theoretically, the people who want to see the arts will save their money to spend it on such things.
Raising taxes is sometimes necessary and not that problematic when you look at the grand scheme of things, however 21% tax is ridiculous, but it also depends on what was in place before. I agree with Jess though, isn't this fraud? I will assume that they are a not-for-profit theatre now or maybe a community based theatre. Also do they really made that much money selling carrots? I don't agree with their logic, but I guess you have to do what helps sustain their business!
i smell a play being developed out of this story. raising taxes and the local theatre fighting back. a 21% tax on ticket sales is ridiculous and this is a fantastic way to fight back. atleast all we have to deal with is our laziness equalling in convenience fees. Yes jess has a point, this is pretty much fraud and it will be funny to see what will come out of this since they are publishing their tactics.
I think this is pretty brilliant. And contrary to some of the other comments, it's not illegal or fraudulent. It's sketchy and in a gray area, but it falls in the same area that escort services do. The only concern I see is that never is there actually a contract designating an exchange of money for tickets. Technically, the theatre could screw you over and not give you the ticket. And they'd be perfectly in the right to do that. I highly doubt that they would, considering the consequences of that action, but they wouldn't be obligated to give anybody a ticket along with their expensive carrot. Plus, if audiences are all chomping on carrots during the show, that could be distracting. Perhaps they should request audiences munch on carrots before the show and during intermission to not distract the actors and fellow patrons.
While it is very sad that it has come to this, I applaud them for their creativity. Talk about "sticking it to the man." Not only does raising the taxes hurt the theatre owners, but also discourages patrons from buying tickets in the first place and could lead to the shutdown for many theaters across Spain. I am curious though why this is being posted on the internet where the Spanish government could easily become aware of it.
I also wonder how the logistics of this would work. Can you buy your carrots ahead of time to ensure a good seat, and if so how do the people at the door know that you didnt just pluck one from you own garden. Its very creative but would also take a fair amount of work to get everything running smoothly.
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