The Deputy Minister of Finances Giorgos Mavraganis has indicated that there might be a discussion about reducing the VAT in food to 13% at the next troika evaluation. Mr. Mavraganis also revealed that the reduction could be applied “on a trial” basis.
Regarding the special consumption tax on heating oil, the Deputy Minister responded that they will discuss possible changes, after the data for April has been compiled and processed.
Mr. Mavraganis explained that the intention is to ease the burden on lower incomes and increase the heating oil consumption to increase revenue from VAT. In turn this will help tackling the fuel adulteration problem and save funds for the heating benefit.
The VAT and special tax reduction were brought up in Parliament by Golden Dawn MP Panagiotis Iliopoulos, who dubbed the measures “a failure” and requested that they be recalled.
