Letter from VENETIS Company to Prime Minister Mr. Alexis Tsipras

VENETIS Company sends a letter to Prime Minister Mr. Alexis Tsipras requesting that non-served bakery products (e.g., pretzels, bakery goods, pastries, bakery confectionery, pies, snacks, etc.) be categorized under a 13% VAT rate instead of 23%, as there is no provision for them in the recent agreement and no commitment towards European partners.

As stated in the letter:

“Dear Prime Minister,

1. The terms “restaurant” and “catering” in Europe refer to served food, i.e., providing services to the customer simultaneously with the product offering, in other words, the integral and indivisible whole of “services and products together”. As for this category alone, you have committed to the partners to be subject to a 23% VAT (i.e., 70% above the current 13%).
2. Bread, on the other hand, you have committed to the partners to be subject to a 13% VAT.
3. However, you have not committed to the partners for a range of bakery products, e.g., pretzels, bakery goods (puff pastry, etc.), pastries, bakery confectionery, pies, snacks, products sold independently for consumption outside the store, without the provision of any service (service or catering) by the seller. These products do not include any catering service and are mainly aimed at economically weaker consumers who purchase them either as their main and only meal or as a supplement to their meal, mainly because they are inexpensive products.

You are therefore given the opportunity to classify these products under a 13% VAT, as your European counterparts have not included them in the 23% VAT rate. On the contrary, they are traditional products of the Greek bakery and concern the basic or complementary meal of poor Greek consumers. This way, the terms ‘restaurant’ and ‘catering’ (pure catering services) will be justly distinguished from products of the Greek bakery.

OUR PROPOSAL:

ALL NON-SERVED DOUGH AND BAKERY PRODUCTS TO BE SUBJECT TO 13% VAT.

The impoverished Greek consumer is the weakest and simultaneously the most heavily taxed consumer in Europe. Imposing new taxes on basic necessities worsens the humanitarian crisis and further reduces employment positions.