The Mitsotakis government said the VAT cut would not lower food prices, and that Spain and Portugal, which did so, did not gain anything. But is it?
In Portugal, after the zero VAT, food inflation fell from 22% to 9.2%. The country is currently ranked third in EU (bottom) by food inflation. In Spain, food inflation fell from 16.7% to 11.9%.
Thus, these results show that a VAT reduction would be beneficial and beneficial for the Greek society as well. However, this measure was not applied in Greece. The reason why VAT has not been reduced or zeroed out, like other taxes such as the Special Tax on Fuel, is very simple. Due to inflation and rising fuel prices, they generate too much revenue and, worse, generate revenue that the tax authorities don’t even need to lift a finger to generate.
Because everyone, whether rich or poor, will be forced to buy food and pour fuel into his car. This means that everyone will automatically pay taxes to the state, whether they like it or not. This is how the Mitsotakis government was able to present surplus in the amount of 2 billionwhich became one of the main pre-election achievements of the New Democracy before the elections.
Because the The European Commission calls To cancellation of subsidies after electionsit is considered certain and certain that the same tactics will be used, as the prices of gas and oil products (and hence food) will remain high for many more years, and thus the next government will be able to present the surplus called for by the commission .
Given the massive tax evasion, the authorities most likely considered such a solution to be the best. However, in this case we are talking about money that citizens will immediately give to the state and, of course, without any installments and agreements. So why won’t VAT or excise be reduced?
In principle, they will never be lowered as long as the memorandum is in effect. That is, until the sun goes out…
Μετά τον μηδενισμο του #ΦΠΑ στα #τρόφιμα στην #Πορτογαλία, ο #πληθωρισμός τροφίμων τον Μαΐο έπεσε 12,8% μονάδες (από 22% τον Φεβρουάριο σε 9,2%). Έχει τον 3ο χαμηλότερο πλήθ.τροφίμων στην #ΕΕ.
Στην #Ισπανία ο πλήθωρισμος τροφίμων έχει μειωθεί από 16,7% τον Φεβρ σε 11,9% τον Μαΐο https://t.co/aHqBKlmjYC pic.twitter.com/U70Nq3RRkI
— Proper Greek Analyst (@propergranalyst) June 19, 2023
Η Οδηγία που απελευθέρωσε τις μείωσεις του #ΦΠΑ κατω του 5% παραμένει σε ισχύ λόγω της #ακρίβειας.
Οι 🇨🇾 🇪🇸🇵🇹🇩🇪🇮🇪🇳🇱🇪🇪🇱🇻🇮🇹🇧🇪🇵🇱🇭🇷
από τις αρχές του 2023, είτε παρατείνουν ή παίρνουν νέα μέτρα μείωσης του ΦΠΑ (κυρίως στα τρόφιμα).Η 🇬🇷 είναι όμηρος νεοφιλελευθερων ιδεοληψίων! pic.twitter.com/FoAiWKT5cr
— Proper Greek Analyst (@propergranalyst) June 6, 2023
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