The Dutch government currently considers certain types of exercise like yoga and meditation ‘luxuries’, and a petition was started to have the VAT on these activities lowered from 21% to 6% in order to make them more accessible.
Many mental activities and types of exercise lower stress and have other proven health benefits. They’ve also been known to lower health costs and lead to more work productivity. If that’s a good thing, then why not make these activities a bit cheaper and in doing so, less posh. Good health should be for everyone, just like in our New Year’s wishes.
The petition needs 25,000 signatures to go to Parliament, so if you want to help, sign the petition. The site seems a bit busy, but that’s surely a good thing.
(Link: nieuws.nl, Photo of Getting fit by Fit Approach. Used under the terms of GNU FDL)