Spanish Theatre Group Ingeniously Bypasses Tax Hike By Selling Porn

When it comes to performing arts, it has seen an increase in popularity as of late. Thanks to more sociological, hard-hitting plays such as Rent, Wicked, and Book of Mormon, younger generations are now relating to the content and flocking in high numbers just to watch.

The Inquisitr also reported on how performing arts are becoming more accepted as mainstream. One such example is Under Armour, a football clothing company, going out of their norm in sponsoring ballerina Misty Copeland. Not to mention, more young kids will most likely become fans of theater once Frozen hits Broadway.

Unfortunately, not everyone is supportive of thespian endeavors. Spain is a prime example of this, as the country dramatically hiked up taxes on theatre tickets. For one theatre group, they figured an ingenious way to bypass the tax: selling porn.

According to the Local, Mariano Rajoy, the prime minister of Spain’s conservative government, raised sales tax on tickets for movies, plays, and concerts from 8 percent to 21 percent in September of 2012. The move was an attempt to rein in the public deficit as unemployment skyrocketed. Over time, the high tax effected ticket sales, especially for cultural events. The National Federation of Theatre and Dance Business Associations (FAETEDA) researched that in the last year after the tax took effect, attendance fell from 13.1 million to 9.3 million, a 29 percent decline. Also, takings from cultural events in general during that same allocated period fell by more than a quarter which cost 1,800 jobs.

FAETEDA wants the government to reduce sales tax on theatre tickets to 10 percent, which is the same rate as Italy. The government counter-argues the sale tax is needed to balance the public accounts. Yet, if the tax was lowered, Jesus Cimarro states theatre companies could do more plays resulting in more income across the economic board.

“Just with this measure (of reducing the tax), a medium or large theatre company could stage three or four more productions per year.”

Despite this, the government is unwilling to lower the tax. As a result, Primas de Riesgo (Risk Premium), an all-woman theatre group, found an ingenious way to counter the tax hike on ticket sales by selling pornographic magazines. According to the Guardian, every magazine priced at €16 ($20 USD) sold comes with a free ticket for their production of The Prodigious Magician, a 17th-century drama by Pedro Calderon de la Barca, in Madrid. The ingenuity comes in the fact that porn magazines are almost 75 percent cheaper in sales tax compared to theatre tickets.

Karina Garantivá, the director for Primas de Riesgo, described this quagmire.

“It’s scandalous when cultural heritage is being taxed at 21 percent and porn at only at 4 percent. Something is wrong.”

No matter what people may say about the plan, it worked, as 180 tickets were given away for The Prodigious Magician in its opening week. Now there are discussions on converting Primas de Riesgo into a distributor of pornographic magazines, partly to save on taxes but to also “start a discussion on this paradox.”

Karina Garantivá has made it known that Primas de Riesgo will continue their campaign to sell pornographic magazines as a means to dodge the ticket taxes until the government lowers the tax.

“If the sales tax changes, we will suspend our campaign. If not, we will pursue this until the end. We are either part of the problem or part of the solution. We shouldn’t complain, we should work to change it.”

What do you think of Primas de Riesgo’s way to “sell” theatre shows despite high taxes? Do you find their plan to be ingenious or cheap because it utilizes “selling sex” as a tactic to fill seats?

[Images via Primas de Riesgo]