Petition to cut VAT on food in Estonia picks up record 70,000 signatures
A petition to reduce the VAT rate on food products from 24 percent to 10 percent has now gathered a record-breaking 70,000 signatures.
Estonia's VAT rose from 22 percent to 24 percent on July 1 and there are no exceptions for food. This means Estonia has one of the highest VAT rates in Europe.
MasterChef Estonia winner Jana Guzanova initiated the petition through the Citizen Initiative (Rahvaalgatus) online portal earlier this month and it quickly gathered over 50,000 signatures.
She said that many people have reached out to her, expressing great gratitude that someone has taken the lead on the issue.
"A lot of people have been writing; not those on the threshold of absolute or relative poverty, but people who earn €1400–€1500 and say that they have no money left for anything at the end of the month," Guzanova said.
"The fact that these people, and such a large number of them, have come forward and signed it demonstrates that it affects very many people and the issue is very topical, not like politicians try to claim that there's essentially no problem," she went on.
All petitions that receive more than 1,000 signatures are passed on to the Riigikogu for debate. However, this does not mean members will make any changes to the current policy.
In that case, Guzanova said, cooperation will continue with local governments, authorities, producers and retail chains, to ensure the issue stays on the table.
To date, the largest petition in the Citizen Initiative framework has been against the implementation of the car tax, which garnered 65,565 signatures in September 2023.
The deadline for signing the VAT on food petition is August 11, after which it will move on to the Riigikogu.
"The signal has been sent, the point is, so to speak, made, now it's time to take more practical steps," Guzanova added.
Opposition parties the Social Democrats (SDE), EKRE and the Center Party, have backed cutting VAT on food. However, the largest party in the Riigikogu, Reform, is strongly against the idea.
"There is support, but whether it will achieve a majority, that remains to be seen," Guzanova said.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
