Meat Products Escape New 13% Food Tax

Most cuts of beef, almost 95 percent, will not have the 13 percent sales tax levied upon them. This was agreed by the Finance Ministry after discussions with the livestock sector in the country.

Products such as ground beef, steaks, liver, beef, tongue, palette post, among other popular choices for consumers will remain free of this new tax making them still affordable for the poorer class of the country.
“This decision gives back to the middle class consumer and lowers the possibility of consuming less beef products” said Enaldo Miranda , executive director of the Livestock Development Corporation (CORFOGA).
The cuts that are going to pay taxes like the tenderloin steaks and beef tenderloin, along with their derivatives: T-Bone, Porter House, New York Steak, Delmonico, sirloin, sea meat (breaded or marinated) and tenderized meat .

Enaldo Miranda said, when it published the first decree (which provided the products to be paying the tax), consumption of meat had decreased by more than 40 percent, according to monitoring done in butcher shops and supermarkets.

We try to negotiate with the Ministry of Finance, showing the errors that the decree had produced and in this way facilitated the negotiations. They had a lot of disorder and now we are clear. Now only 4 or 5 percent of meat is taxed while the rest remains untaxed. ” he said.

Conversations between the Ministry of Finance and other sectors such as pigfarmers, beekeeping and fishing, also had positive results.

The natural bee honey and fish for public consumption like the baby shrimp and tilapia were exempt from the tax this week.

For these changes, others were made that allowed tax free products such as bread and milk.