The list of products considered “healthy” that will be exempt from VAT between April and October is expected to be finalized on Monday after negotiations over the weekend.
There should be between 30 and 40 products considered essential and that will be exempt from VAT between April and October, reports TSF and Renascença.
To ECO, the Ministry of Health said that it is “technically contributing” to the selection of products included in the VAT zero basket and that “it is premature to advance more information” and the negotiations, led by the Prime Minister, are ongoing over the weekend and the selection of food should be completed only on Monday.
In addition to products considered “healthy”, the basket should also include high consumption foods.
The Finance Minister wants to conclude the agreement with the distribution and production sectors “quickly” and “early next week” for the zero VAT basket of essential goods.
If the government reaches an agreement with the production and distribution sectors, the products selected by the Ministry of Health will be included in the zero VAT measure and the tax will not be charged for six months.
According to the Finance Minister, the aim of the measure, which will cost 140 million euros, is to reduce prices along the chain by keeping the value of food products “stable for a certain period of time”, thus avoiding different prices in supermarkets every week.
This was one of the measures that are part of the package of support to mitigate the rising cost of living, announced at a joint press conference by the Ministers of the Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, of Finance, Fernando Medina, and of Labor and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho.
Source: https://eco.sapo.pt/2023/03/25/cabaz-iva-zero-com-30-a-40-produtos/
