The food industry is preparing to ask the government for an extension of the VAT reduction on basic products beyond June 30. They plan to request an extension until the end of the year and may propose expanding the list of affected products to include essential items like meat or fish. Meanwhile, several supermarket chains have asked the government for more time to demonstrate that they are not using the VAT reduction on food to increase their profit margins. This practice is prohibited by the anti-crisis decree that regulates the temporary measure implemented to curb inflation.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs had initially given them a deadline to submit accounts proving that they are passing on the tax discount to customers. However, some chains have requested extensions to the deadline as consumer authorities continue to investigate them and review all required information submitted so far. In addition, oversight by the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) has been monitoring supermarkets to ensure they are passing on the tax discount to consumers, confirming in a 2023 report that distribution chains were correctly transferring it
