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Counter: Soon restaurant visits will have to pay more taxes again
Photo: SARAH MEYSSONNIER / REUTERS
The value added tax on food in the catering industry will be raised again to 19 percent at the beginning of the year. Takeaway, supermarket or delivery food is taxed at seven percent. In order to relieve the burden on the catering industry during the Corona crisis, the then CDU-led government had temporarily reduced the tax replacement for food in restaurants and cafés from 2020 to seven percent in 19. The scheme has been extended several times due to the energy crisis, most recently until the end of this year. The industry had recently vehemently campaigned for the tax cut not to be phased out.
The FDP had called for an extension of the VAT reduction in the catering industry for another year. At the beginning of the week, FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai had declared: "Yes, the pandemic is over. However, the challenges and difficulties of the industry are far from over. That is why it is necessary for the regulation to continue to exist. Our coalition partners are also called upon to take this step so that we can maintain the reduction."
There were also increasing voices from the SPD and the Greens to extend the reduction. In the course of the austerity efforts, the traffic light partners seem to have moved away from this during their budget deliberations on Thursday evening.
ani/Reuters/dpa