The Government’s plan to double the VAT tax on luxury food items leaked today and is revealed as much more extensive than initially planned.
Government representatives insisted that the measure will only affect luxury items, and would usually mention absurd dishes such as shark fins, or fresh truffles. This was done to calm down the public, anxious after the sustained inflation blow over the past several years. But Sitel TV today leaked the list of items whose tax will double starting tomorrow and it has over a thousand items. These include many common types of cheese, most frozen fish, mayonnaise, pepper spreads, nutella type spreads, ice-creams, potato chips, all types of nuts and even decidedly non-luxury items such as noodles.
Sitel TV quotes supermarket managers who say that they are confused by the list, after being assured that it will be strictly limited and will not affect the already degraded living standards. The Government insisted that the tax hike will bring 70 million EUR in extra revenue, even as it claimed that the items on the list will only be foods such as gorgonzola cheese, typically used only by the richest. With the actual list revealed, the sum is achievable, but at a serious cost to the middle and lower class consumers.
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