Proposals by the Netherlands’ new government to increase the VAT on books, museum visits, hotel bookings, and sports events, have provoked fierce opposition from the country’s cultural and leisure sectors. The plans, which will come into effect in two years’ time (2026), would see VAT charges on a wide range of leisure activities rise from 9% to 21%. The Dutch government, led by newly elected Prime Minister Dick Shoof, who succeeded Mark Rutte in May, believes the increase will generate €2.2bn a year for the treasury, to fund social programmes and infrastructure projects. But the tax hike has …