Latvia Coalition agrees to 12% VAT rate on fruit and vegetables, replacing current 5% rate

• The coalition government in Latvia has agreed to apply a reduced VAT rate of 12% on fresh fruits and vegetables next year.
• The Prime Minister, Evika Siliņa, announced the agreement and said the government will prepare the proposal for the 2024 state budget.
• For the past few years, a reduced VAT rate of 5% has been applied to these items, but this rate is set to end this year.
• Initially, it was expected that the VAT rate would return to the full rate of 21% next year, but a compromise of 12% has been reached.
• The reduced rate will only apply to local fruit and vegetable producers, not the wider food supply chain.
• If approved by Saeima, the current 5% VAT rate will remain valid from January 1.
• The reduced VAT rate of 5% was introduced in 2018 as a pilot project for three years, which the government agreed to extend until the end of 2023.

Source: eng.lsm.lv

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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