If the government were to end zero VAT at this time, the basket of 41 products controlled by Deco Proteste and benefiting from the measure would no longer cost the 138.77 euros that consumers paid on April 17 paid for it the day before. the entry into force of the abolition of the tax on these products, only 141.35 euros. An additional 2.58 euros will be added, which corresponds to an increase of 1.86%, on top of the 6% tax replacement (see infographic). The data comes from Deco Proteste, which warns of the increase in the cost of living for families. “There is a general trend of price increases that clearly absorbs the impact of the zero VAT measure, which in itself and in itself is small,” says the director of communications and institutional relations at the consumer organization.
Rita Rodrigues assumes that the situation is of “great concern” as the government already assumes that zero VAT will end at the end of the year and will not be extended until 2024. “If the calculations as of today are like this “In addition, because we know that the first days of January will bring the typical increases at the beginning of the year, we view the situation with great concern, given the current problems that consumers are already facing,” he says.
On April 17, and with applicable VAT, the basket of 41 products cost an average of 138.77 euros. Six months later – completed yesterday – the same basket, now without VAT, costs 133.01 euros, that is 5.76 euros less. This is a decrease of 4.15%, “which is far below what would be desirable”, regrets the consumer protection association. More than the extension of zero VAT in 2024, Deco “calls for the implementation of all additional measures, namely support for production, which in fact can have a more direct impact”, says Rita Rodrigues, who does not hesitate to emphasize that , “worldwide prices are more expensive than before zero VAT came into effect”. As to what the increases are due to, “only ASAE can request evidence of the problems that led to the increases.”
APED is negotiating the formal end of zero VAT on the food basket on January 10, so that supermarkets can adapt to changing prices on shelves.
The association also regrets that the speed of price adjustment is not the same during increases and decreases. “There is always a lot of speed when it comes to raising prices, but when it comes to lowering them the speed is not the same,” he points out.
DN/Dinheiro Vivo tried in vain to hear from the Portuguese Farmers’ Federation about this. The Portuguese Association of Distribution Companies (APED) guarantees that it is not the retail sector that increases prices, but production, but that this is due to the drought, which affects the scarcity of olive and orange production, as well as the difficulties in obtaining grains, still as a result of the war in Ukraine.
The general manager of APED, on the other hand, recalls that despite the zero VAT measure having been negotiated with partners, production and trade, the support for production in April “came late and only in September began to have an effect on national production’. “.
This support, Gonçalo Lobo Xavier emphasizes, was “not intended to prevent price increases, as the market continues to function, but rather to help prices not rise so much.” And, he guarantees, “the market is increasingly under pressure and for products such as olive oil, eggs, chicken meat and meat in general, prices have risen and, unfortunately, will continue to rise.”
Which, according to him, does not mean that the measure [do IVA zero] hasn’t worked. “Associating zero VAT with price growth is very unfair and limiting,” says Lobo Xavier, who declines to comment on Deco’s data because he does not know it. But he assures that data from the zero VAT monitoring committee until September “show that package prices fell by 10% on average.” A “very important” value, he says. There will be a new meeting of the aforementioned monitoring committee next Monday afternoon.
Gonçalo Lobo Xavier admits that support for production “is important” and guarantees that, given the extension of zero VAT from October to December, the association defended “that it is necessary to continue paying farmers, but in the same way as other members of the states.” .”
Regarding the end of zero VAT, scheduled for the end of the year, APED is negotiating a ten-day moratorium with the government. “We will not [nos supermercados] change the system within 24 hours or all labels on New Year’s Eve,” he emphasizes.
Ilídia Pinto is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
