The National Assembly adopted this Saturday afternoon, October 26, in first reading, a provision proposed by the government to exempt from VAT, in Martinique and Guadeloupe, a list of “first necessity” products. Translation of an agreement signed on October 16 in Fort-de-France to fight against the high cost of living.
The list of products that will benefit from this exemption, until the end of 2027, will be specified by decree.
In return, other products that are currently exempt from VAT in these departments, such as electronic or nautical devices, should be subject to this tax in the future, Martinique PS deputy Béatrice Bellay explained to AFP.
This provision, included in a government modification of the 2025 budget, is the legislative transcription of the agreement concluded in mid-October in Martinique between the State and the main players in retail trade to reduce prices by “20% on average” in this department overseas, scene since September of a mobilization against the high cost of living.
An agreement until now considered insufficient
Before the vote, the deputies adopted two other “better” amendments than the Government’s, of which there is no guarantee that they will appear in the final copy of the text, which is just beginning its parliamentary journey. It is planned to eliminate all VAT, on all products, in the five overseas departments and not only in the Antilles. Currently, only Guyana and Mayotte are exempt.
The other exempts certain essential products, included in the shield-quality-price (BQP) system, from VAT in the overseas departments, that is, “fewer products than in the government version, but in more departments,” according to Bellay. .
In Martinique, the mobilization launched at the beginning of September against the high cost of living generated strong tensions that were not completely calmed by the agreement of October 16. This was considered insufficient by the collective Demonstration for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC), which gave rise to the movement.
Source: BFM TV
