JANUARY - FEBRUARY 1978
NEWSLETTER
CRAFTS COUNCII OF IRELAND. Thomas Prior House, Merrion Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 Telephone 01 680764
V.A.T A recent survey undertaken by Crafts Council of Ireland shows that of the various countries in the European Economic Community, Ireland places the greatest V.A.T. burden on crafts. Here we have no rate applicable to handcrafts below 20%. Many handcrafts in the U.K. for instance are rated at half that percentage. This puts an intolerable burden on craft workers for it has the double effect of creating an apparently high retail price for crafts and a low return to the craftworker. Many products have in normal retail practice a threshold limit beyond which at present the public would tend to regard them as too dear but often does not realise that a fifth of this price is V.A.T. If the threshold limit is maintained then the craftworker merely gets, say 50% of the threshold limit after the 20% V.A.T. A reduction of V.A.T. to 10% would mean that the same threshold limit could be maintained but the craftworker would get a better return or alternatively accept the same return but have their products on sale at a slightly lower price. It should not be beyond the wit of our taxmen to devise a lower V.A.T. rate
which would apply specifically to handmade products.
Crafts in Architecture
The Crafts Council would be happy to help in the devising of such a scheme which would also have the advantage of clearly pinpointing the handcrafted product of Irish origin, penalising the imported product of non-EEC origin and helping a section of the community which is often a small or one-person business which, nevertheless, makes a significant contribution to the nation.
Centraal Orgaan Voor Het Scheppend Amibacht (COSA) is roughly the Dutch equivalent of Crafts Council of Ireland, although it deals with a wider range of crafts and into sculptural work as well. Holland has an enlightened approach to the arts in architecture in that a percentage of building costs must be reserved for spending on the decorative and artistic element of new blocks whether for office or other purposes.
Elsewhere we mention the enlightened attitude of the Dutch Government towards the artistic decoration of new buildings and in the V.A.T. field they are no less enlightened in that the creative craft product is regarded as an unique work of art and on the condition that the maker is a qualified craftworker and acknowledged as such by an official organisation such as Crafts Council of Ireland would be, is rated for V.A.T. at a mere 4%. We have a long way to go before what little verbal recognition at official level of the importance of cultural things we now have is translated into tangible benefits to the craftsworker by legislation.
Second National Craf tsTrade Fair
At the moment of going to press we are able to announce the outstanding success of the National Trade Fair. Buyers from over 200 shops placed firm orders for £155,000 of craft products with an estimated £60,000 of additional orders expected within the next six weeks.
Many new contacts were made and the additional business which the Fair will generate throughout the year will certainly be a good percentage of business placed during the three days of the Fair.
COSA has over the years played a major part in working closely with architects and craftsmen and is recognised as the agency which is consulted in relation to the choice of craftsmen to present schemes for new buildings. An example of COSA's success is a recent report on commissions carried out by craftsmen with their advice and assistance and lists, for instance, wallhangings, mosaic, bronze sculpture, reliefs, fountains, landscaping and such of which one was in the price category of over 100,000 Florins, four were in the category of 15,000/30,000 Florins and seven in the category of 3,000/6,000h. The result of such activity is of course commissions for craftsmen, a beautifying of new buildings with fine craftswork and a public appreciation of contemporary arts and crafts in an architectural setting. Of course the initial enlightenment was at Government level in the original legislation to ensure that a percentage of construction costs be spent on craft work and artistic decoration.