New taxes on foods high in sugar and non-alcoholic beer

The government published in the Official Gazette N° 977/2023, the Law N° 296/2023 which describes a series of tax amendments, including the implementation of new taxes (Value Added Tax - VAT) on products with high added sugar content.

The new tax measures for foods & drinks are are:

1. A VAT rate of 19 % (instead of the previous 9 %) for a) products with added sugar (i.e. more than 10 g/100 g of product) except national sweets such as sweet bread and cookies and b) non-alcoholic beer.
2. A VAT rate of 9% (instead of the previous 5%) for high quality food, i.e. artisanal, organic and traditional products.
3. The introduction of non-harmonized excise duties for soft drinks with added sugars whose total sugar level is between 5 g and 8 g/100 ml and soft drinks with added sugars whose total sugar level is higher than 8 g/100 ml.

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