From the new year, basic foods are expected to become cheaper thanks to a lower VAT rate. While sellers say prices have already dropped, customers and economists don’t think so. Additionally, Nova TV’s New Year shopping check showed that some foods are more expensive.
There have been no pennies in your wallet for a long time, but some sellers openly boast about it on New Year’s flyers. This is how much people need to save. “We have predicted the full VAT price. The price of sandwiches, which was 2.90, is now 2.82,” said Tomáš Kubík, spokesman for the Penny Market store network.
For one of the buyers, Mr. Novák, a kaiserka cost 4.90 crowns on New Year’s Eve, only 4.77 two days later. “It’s purely cosmetic. Who would benefit if I bought a sandwich and paid six cents less for it? That the government gives it to us like this and isn’t ashamed of it,” he says, angry at the change.
Although for most basic food products the VAT rate increased from 15% to 12%, customers in Hradec Králové, for example, did not notice. At the same time, some traders say they have already discounted prices at the end of the year. “We have reflected the reduced VAT in the prices of all foodstuffs subject to the reduced rate,” said store spokesperson Albert Jiří Mareček. “Kaufland will also round up the new prices for more than six thousand products from this group, thus lightening customers’ wallets,” said Renata Maierl, spokeswoman for the Kaufland store.
Food Price Graphics | Source: TVNova
If you compare the prices of the same shop with those of last August, the bread still costs the same. Butter costs on average four crowns more, as do apples. “The price mainly depends on how the suppliers behave. If prices didn’t increase, food would cost less thanks to VAT,” adds Tomáš Prouza, president of the Trade and Tourism Association.
According to experts, a significant discount cannot be expected, because historically the VAT reduction has never been reflected, or has only been reflected very little, on traders’ prices.
