Price monitoring by consumer protection association Deco shows that 0% VAT is applied rather than 100%, and for many products the base price increased between Monday and Tuesday.
“We were [esta terça-feira] collect prices to compare with yesterday’s prices [segunda-feira]and we noticed that the effect [da medida IVA 0%] it was not a 100 per cent impact,” said Luce Rita Rodriguez, director of communications at Deco Proteste, specifying that the difference was 4.76 euros when it should have been 7.85 euros.
Deco took into account 41 products with zero VAT (out of a list of 44 that it monitors) and a comparison between the two days leads to the conclusion that there is “€3.20 that is not passed on to the consumer”.
The situation, which the responsible person justifies by the fact that in 41 products – out of 44 tested – two have risen in price, as in the case of meat for cooking and heart-shaped cabbage, she clarified, noting that “all the rest fell, but not all fell by 6%” .
So, explains the head of Deco Proteste, “zero VAT is applied”, but the price of the base product has “increased”, and it is impossible to say the reason for such an increase, “i.e. there could have been an increase in the prima case or some other justification.
The measure, which exempts a set of 46 items deemed necessary from VAT, went into effect on Tuesday, and food retailers have up to 15 days to reflect it in selling prices to the public.
In this context, Rita Rodriguez refers to the expectation that “prices will trend downward”, specifying that monitoring work will continue “to be sure” if “they fall in the exact proportion of the VAT reduction”.
The person in charge of Deco Proteste cites that in the near future it will be possible to see “there will be examples of some products whose effects are not of direct application” of the measure, acknowledging that it will be “great difficulty” to understand what is “the real reason “.