Facua reports that half of the foods affected by the VAT reduction are more expensive in August than in January

2023-08-31 18:24:16

The association in defense of consumer rights facua updated this Thursday price analysis which has been in place since the beginning of the year to study the impact of the reduction in VAT on food. According to the latest data, the 48.4% of articles are more expensive this August than in January, from which time basic food products such as bread, flour, milk, cheese, eggs or fruit, vegetables, vegetables and legumes are taxed with a 0% VAT and oil and pastes, 5% (when it is usually 10%). That is to say that, according to what the measure intended, this series of foods they should be cheap than then, but, on the other hand, many of them are even more expensive.

The organization has carried out its study based on data collected from Alcampo, Aldi, Carrefour, Dia, Eroski, Lidl, Hipercor and Mercadona, and the conclusion is that 471 of 976 articles compared they are now more expensive than on December 30, 2022. Not only that, Facua also reports that this percentage is getting bigger: while in January only 6.7% of items in the sample were found to have increased, since then the percentage has been climbing until reaching 48.4% recorded in August, a rate that is almost a point and a half higher that of July.

“Facua will once again expand the complaints it has been presenting monthly to the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), which until today continues without giving him any kind of answer“, the organization announces in a statement, in which it also recalls that the royal decree law on which this measure is based indicates that “none of these products can increase in price unless there are cost increases”. “Facua insists on claiming to the CNMC that investigate which increases have been the result of increases in costs and which involve increases in profit margins for some member of the food chain, one prohibited practice by the royal decree law”, he completes.

Families are cutting back on olive oil consumption due to the endless rise in prices

CNMC analysis

The body to which he appeals has not yet given a direct response to any of the previous demands made by Facua, but it did publish a report at the beginning of the month that X-rayed the distribution sector in general at the request of the Secretary of State for Economy and Business Support (SEEAE) and in which he addressed this issue. In essence, his conclusion is that the VAT reduction has been successfully applied in supermarkets and food stores.

But three weeks later, Facua is back in charge. He did so detailing that Carrefour is the supermarket with more expensive products than before (almost 6 out of 10) and who follow this French chain, also with percentages above 50%, Alcampo, Aldi, and Lidl.

“Of the total of 471 prices in which Facua has detected an increase in its comparison, 144 correspond to fruits or vegetables [el 30% del total]93 are olive oils [20%] and 63 are rice and pasta [el 13,4%]” adds this consumer association in its statement. They have also detected 70 price increases between milk and dairy products38 related to vegetablesand other points, although to a lesser extent, in ous, flours i pans. “The biggest climb, in Alcampo, breaks a record this month: the kilo of fuji pumice it has gone from costing 1.43 euros in January to having a price now of 3.69″, exemplifies Facua, who also highlights the increase in the price of a two-kilo bag of El Mercat oranges at Aldi, from 2.39 euros to rub, now, the 5.