Temporary VAT exemption – Essential foods – Portugal – BELIM CASTILHO - Tax Law office, Tax Lawyers and Tax advisors, Lisbon Portugal

WHAT CHANGED?

On 6 April 2023, the Portuguese National Parliament approved a list of essential foods which import and supply will temporary benefit from VAT exemption (with right of deduction); The measure is temporary as a response to present inflation

WHEN WILL CHANGES ENTER INTO FORCE?

The VAT exemption applies from 18.04.2023 to 31.10.2023 with a pending proposal to be approved for extension up tp 31.12.2023.

WHAT PRODUCTS ARE COVERED?

Cereals and similar, tubers:

Bread
Potatoes in their natural state, fresh or refrigerated
Pasta and similar dry pasta, excluding stuffed pasta
Rice (husked, milled, polished, glazed, parboiled, broken)

Vegetables and horticultural products, fresh or refrigerated, dried, dehydrated or frozen, whether or not pre-cooked:

Onion
Tomato
Cauliflower
Lettuce
Broccoli
Carrots
Courgette
Leek
Pumpkin
Greens from the cabbage [Grelos]
Portuguese cabbage
Spinach
Turnip
Peas

Fruits in their natural state:

Apple
Banana
Orange
Pear
Melon

Legumes in dried state:

Red Beans
Friar Beans
Chickpeas

Dairy products:

Natural cow’s milk , sterilised, pasteurised, ultra pasteurised, fermented or powdered
Yoghurts or fermented milks
Cheeses

Meat and edible meat offal, fresh or frozen, of:

Pork
Chicken
Turkey
Beef

Fresh (live or dead), refrigerated , frozen, dried, salted or in brine, excluding canned or smoked fish:

Cod
Sardine
Hake
Horse mackerel [Carapau]
Sea bream [Dourada]
Mackerel [Cavala]

Canned tuna

Chicken eggs, fresh, dried or preserved

Fats and Oils:

Olive oil
Directly edible vegetable oils and mixtures thereof (edible oils)
Butter

Vegetable-based beverages and yoghurts, not containing milk or milk products, and produced from nuts, cereals or preparations of cereals, fruit, vegetables or cereal products

Dietary products for enteral nutrition and gluten-free products for coeliac patients

Notes:

Published 11 April, 2023.

At time of publishing, the approved document has not been published in the official Diary of the Portuguese Republic but this is expected in the next days.

BELIM CASTILHO is a Portuguese law firm specialized in tax.

This note is informative and does not replace tax advisory to a specific case.

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