VAT to decline on some food items

7th August 2010

The Polish government adopted a new long-term financial plan last Tuesday, which will see a planned increase in value added tax (VAT), as means to strap in a large budget deficit.

However, Poland’s planned tax hike should result in slightly lower food prices on some food products, said Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski in parliament.

“The cost of food products that had a 7 percent VAT tag should now come down by 0.7 percentage points, while the cost of food as a whole should fall slightly,” Rostowski said.

The sales-tax reform envisages three VAT rates of 5, 8 and 23 percent, replacing the existing 3, 7 and 22 percent. According to Rostowski, non-processed food items that fe ...