The imposition of a new tax which will affect all food products rich in fats, is being considered for Greece.
Last week, the representatives of the troika asked high-ranking officials in the Greek Ministry of Finance to calculate the expected revenue created by imposing this new tax on food products that have a high concentration in saturated fats, like butter, crème, milk, cheese, pizza, meat, chocolate, ketchup, mayonnaise and other snacks.
The so-called “fat tax” will range from 8 to 10 percent and will be imposed on the reduced Greek VAT of 13 percent, which was introduced last year for the area of food service also covering those products. The new tax will not be imposed on fish, poultry and turkey, while it still remains unclear if popular Greek fast foods like souvlaki and burgers will be included in the new tax.
In Denmark, where the tax is in effect for some years now, only products with a saturated fat rate of over 2.3 percent, like butter, cheese, pizza, meat and milk, are covered by the tax, which amounts to €2.15 per kg of saturated fats. France and Hungary also apply a “fat tax,” with France also taxing sauces (ketchup and mayonnaise), as well as soft-drinks with high sugar concentrations, exempting light and zero-percent-sugar soft-drinks. In those countries, the tax was said to be imposed so as to protect the citizens against obesity.
As for Greece, first calculations indicate that the state will manage, apart from reducing obesity rates, to raise €640 to €800 million per year from the new tax.
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