- No clear evidence that reducing VAT on food lowers prices
- Citizen initiative in Estonia to lower VAT on food has 80,000 signatures
- Politicians divided on VAT reduction for food
- Center Party, EKRE, and Social Democrats support reduction
- Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi opposes, citing supply chain absorption
- Rasmus Kattai notes no clear pattern between VAT rates and food prices
- Higher VAT rates sometimes correlate with cheaper food
- Factors affecting prices include market competition, market size, and retail structure
- Studies show VAT reduction can lower prices, as seen in Poland and Germany
- Uncertainty about duration of price drops
- Example of Latvia shows VAT reduction not always leading to cheaper food
- Businessman Oleg Gross cites Estonia’s location and market size as reasons for high prices
- Gross criticizes overregulation and excessive taxation in Estonia
Source: news.err.ee
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
