Im sure nobody has noticed any difference in the cost of shopping since Zero VAT was introduced, and with the saving of mostly 5 %, you are not going to, and prices keep increasing every week.
A set of food items that fit in the basket with zero VAT continues to cost less today than it would without this measure, but it is already two euros more expensive than when the exemption came into force.
According to the collection of prices carried out by Lusa on the website of a food retail distribution chain, the purchase of 46 food products from various categories that are part of the zero VAT basket currently costs 158.44 euros, about two euros more than the 156.44 euros it cost on April 18th.
Contributing to this increase in the cost of the basket, taking into account the products under analysis, were the 3.0 kg bag of potatoes, the price of which increased by 11 cents since that date of entry into force of the VAT exemption, as well as new onions ( whose price per kilo is now nine cents more), leek (10 cents more), flat lettuce (75 cents more), a kilo of broccoli (62 cents more) or orange (28 cents more).
Chicken breast (whose price is now 31 cents per kilo more expensive) is another of the products that contributed to the increase in the price of this basket, from the 18th of April until today.
But among the fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy products, legumes, oils, olive oil, margarine, eggs, pasta, rice and canned tuna that make up the basket of 46 products whose prices today were compared with the previous ones, there are also five items whose price has fallen, with the biggest drop being seen in a package of spaghetti pasta from the distribution’s own brand — which fell from 1.21 euros on April 18 to 0.75 euros today.
The prices of products such as long grain rice and carolino rice, courgette, frozen spinach, bananas, semi-skimmed milk (considering the distribution’s own brand), eggs, bifana, turkey prema, cod, sardines, olive oil, butter or yogurt remained unchanged.
The prices with VAT indicated on the same website on the day the measure came into force, for the 46 products considered amounted, then, to 166.87 euros — a value still slightly lower than that observed on March 28, on the website of the same retail chain.
The list of VAT-exempt food products – following a tripartite pact signed between the Government and the food production and distribution sectors – includes fresh, refrigerated and frozen vegetables, meat and fish, as well as rice and pasta, cheese , milk and yoghurt and fruits such as apples, pears, oranges, bananas and melon, three types of legumes, or even, among others, vegetable-based drinks and yoghurts.
The products were chosen taking into account the healthy food basket from the Ministry of Health and data from distribution companies on the products most consumed by the Portuguese.