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Socialists Demand Cut to VAT on Food

• 14 Oct 2021 6:15 AM
• Hungary Matters

The Socialists on Wednesday called on the government to cut VAT on basic foodstuffs to 5% and of other food products to 18%, saying ruling “Fidesz has unleashed brutal price hikes in the country”.

Socialist lawmaker László Varju told an online press conference that due to nine-year record inflation, the price rises of basic foodstuffs were double the minimum wage hike, while pensioners were hit especially hard.

Varju insisted that the government had “weakened the forint on purpose”, yielding hundreds of billions of forints of profits for the central bank, while driving up the price of imports.

Meanwhile, Hungary’s 27% VAT is the highest in the European Union, he said. Varju called on the government to “stop profiteering” on food prices and scrap the “extra tax”.

VAT on or food products should not be higher than 18%, with VAT for basic foodstuffs cut to 5% “immediately”, he said.

The Socialists expect the winner of the opposition primary election to include the measure in their election manifesto, he said.

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• Socialists VAT Food

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Launched in January 2014, this newsletter published on week days covers 'everything you need to know about what’s going on in Hungary and beyond', according to its publisher the state media agency MTI.

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