"Confusion" over Government plans to raise VAT on orange juice

The Government has caused “confusion” over plans to raise VAT on orange juice from 10 to 21 per cent, as if it were a sugary soft drink.
THIS has prompted the Ministry of Agriculture to form a “common front” with the regional governments of Murcia and Andalucia to address the central executive and “reject” such a “confusing move”.
They are asking that a natural product not be equated with drinks that are artificially sweetened, and have requested a meeting with the Ministry of Consumption, Alberto Garzon.
“An increase in VAT would mean an increase in the cost of the final product and a consequent decrease in consumption,” they have argued.
Minister Mireia Mollà, who plans to visit the Valencian citrus juice industry Zuvamesa, located in Parc Sagunt, recalled that added sugar is prohibited in fruit and vegetable juices by Royal Decree 28/2013 of October 11.
Therefore, “to tax the sugar naturally present in the fruit creates confusion in the consumer and has a negative impact on a strategic sector for our territory”.
Mollà said a VAT increase would be “unfair” and would represent “a new blow to the juice industry, already very affected by the health crisis”.

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