On Tuesday, after the news broke about the fiscal changes proposed by the Ministry of Finance, the Tax Council, a technical cooperation forum established by this department that serves as a bridge between businesses, experts and the state administration on fiscal policies, convened urgently.
At this meeting, the government was represented at a technical level. Sources for Top News claimed that at this meeting, the government representative admitted that the proposals for the fiscal package for next year, which increase the fiscal burden on businesses, were dictated by the student protest.
This was the aim of the VAT reduction on food and the increase in taxes for businesses and corporations. According to the government, some of these changes were foreseen in the medium-term fiscal program and would come into effect in 2028. However, student demands for social housing and the rising cost of living accelerated this process.
The government representative's reasoning was opposed by representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who strongly opposed the fiscal changes. They warned that the changes would severely hit domestic businesses and could prompt them to relocate their factories to North Macedonia and Kosovo.
Experts raised doubts about whether the reduction in VAT for the basket will be reflected in lower prices in the market, citing the lack of state mechanisms to ensure that this reduction will not translate into a higher profit margin for traders.
Overall, experts and businesses warned that the fiscal package could produce the opposite effects, with the initiative to reduce food prices translating into much higher overall inflation.