AND of about 63 euros a year savings for a family with one child of up to three years of age derived from the 5% VAT cut on tampons and childhood products, included in the budget manoeuvre.
5% VAT cut, is it really necessary?
A saving that, however, for various reasons, risks being a measure with almost no effect.
Meanwhile why the increase in prices and inflation, in fact, almost cancel out the lower outlay. And then because, between the problem of falling birth rates and the not very high prices of many of these products, in the end the average savings for a family is likely to translate into pennies.
The 5% VAT cut on some products risks being useless (Getty Images)
Products that should cost less
In the Budget law, the Government, in addition to all sanitary pads and tampons for feminine hygiene, including compostable and washable ones, has added other products on which to apply the reduced VAT at 5%. And these are:
- Powdered or liquid milk for feeding infants or young children
- Food preparations of flour, groats, meal, starch or malt extract for infant or young child, put up for retail sale
- Baby diapers
- Child seats to be installed in motor vehicles
Because the prices don’t go down
The VAT cut, as imaginable, should result a decrease in retail prices.
But, often this does not happen, because merchants are in no way obliged to lower the cost of goods even if the VAT decreases, transferring all the tax benefit to the final consumers.
It seems, moreover, very difficult for it to be done and also to know if it has been done. Especially with runaway inflation.
Savings for families are very little
Therefore, leaving aside the feminine hygiene productswhich effectively concern the price reduction for an important part of the Italian population, compared to products for children the VAT rate which drops from 10% to 5% it does not produce the great savings announced.
The simulation
Just take a pack of twenty diapers to understand it. Imagining an average cost of 6.50 euroswith VAT at 5% it would drop by 32 cents.
However, if, as the Istat data say, shopping for diapers and padswhich do not have a single entry, but fall under personal hygiene and well-being items, it is on average 26.48 euros per monthit becomes quite apparent how the impact of the VAT reduction on diapers on a family’s savings becomes very minimal. Or, when it’s good, one euro a month.
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