The catering industry in this country had hoped until the end, but the decision from Berlin came anyway: from January 1, 2024 Germany again a VAT rate of 19 percent on food in cafes and restaurants. The currently applicable reduced rate of 7 percent is history.
Innkeepers in Germany are angry: They fear that the price increase will scare away many guests and criticize the timing of the change: Currently, as many consumers are because of the inflation are already more cautious when spending money, the rising prices in the catering industry are exactly the wrong signal, is the tenor. In the Berlin traffic light coalition, the SPD and the Greens had advocated allowing the reduced rate to expire at the end of the year.
The reason for the reduction, which had been in effect since mid-2020, was, among other things, the economic difficulties resulting from the corona crisis been cited. The Ukraine war, which continues to rage, was also repeatedly cited as a reason.
The Dehoga restaurant association reacted to the end of the tax relief with clear criticism. Dehoga President Guido Zöllick said that the increase in prices for eating out would hit normal and low-income earners particularly hard. The CDU criticized the tax increase as anti-social and pointed out that this step would further increase inflation.
VAT in restaurants in Germany will be one of the highest in the EU
If Germany has a VAT rate of 19 percent again from next year gastronomy applies, this is one of the highest rates in the European Union, where a reduced rate applies in 23 out of 27 countries, according to Dehoga. In a number of countries, the state collects 10 percent when people eat out, for example in our neighboring countries Austria, France and Italy. In Poland and Hungary the tax authorities are even more modest on this point.
“The majority of EU states demonstrate their appreciation for what restaurants and cafés do for the economy and society as well as for social participation by uniformly taxing food,” said a Dehoga spokeswoman star. The reduced one VAT For the catering industry in Europe, it is not the exception, but the rule, she emphasized.
The Dehoga association has published an overview of VAT in the catering industry in the EU. This is the basis of this photo series.
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Source: Stern
