From the ranks of the SPD and the Greens comes the proposal to reduce the VAT rate on milk substitutes. In the future, these should be taxed like cow’s milk at 7 instead of 19 percent, taking into account changed eating habits.
“I can very well imagine reducing the VAT on milk substitute products to seven percent in the short term as part of the upcoming negotiations on the annual tax law on January 1, 2024,” said tax expert Tim Klüssendorf from the SPD parliamentary group in the newspaper “Welt am Sonntag”. . An adjustment of the different rates for staple foods, such as oat or soy drinks, is long overdue.
The SPD politician received support from Green MP Bruno Hönel: “With the change in eating habits in recent years and decades, plant-based milk, for example, has become an everyday alternative to cow’s milk for many. It is also more climate-friendly,” said Hönel. The unequal tax treatment is therefore rightly met with a lack of understanding and is difficult to maintain in terms of content. However, the realization is “depending on the budgetary leeway”.
