The Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance approved at second reading the reduction of Value Added Tax for baby food and sanitary materials. It will be 9 percent as much as for restaurateurs and hotel-keepers. The proposal for a lower rate for baby food and sanitary materials was submitted by the ‘Movement for Rights and Freedoms’ (MRF) party and supported by GERB.
The lower rate will also benefit the book products, BNR reported.
The Chairperson of the Committee on Budget and Finance in the National Assembly Menda Stoyanova is generally against the lower rate. She announced her position a few weeks ago, when Prime Minister Boyko Borissov announced his decision. The Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov is also against. However, Stoyanova now supports the differentiated rate for baby food and sanitary materials. However, the VAT on alcohol offered in restaurants, as well as in catering services will remain at 20%. Stoyanova stressed that this is also an excise product.
During the meeting of the Budget Committee it became clear that the Gambling Committee will be heard next week. Meanwhile, the ‘National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria’ (NFSB) introduced a bill that stipulates that the state fee on gambling, including the traditional lottery, lotto and keno, be 15% on the value of bets placed on each game.
