The Panhellenic Federation of Restaurant and Related Professions (POESE) held a working meeting on Wednesday (29/07) with Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance, Dimitris Markopoulos. POESE was represented by its President Mr. Giorgos Kavvathas, Vice President Mr. Tasos Giatras, and the Secretary General of GSEVEE and POESE Board Member Mr. Sotiris Kotsabas.
POESE’s demands – What the federation is asking for on VAT
The meeting was prompted by POESE’s recent letter to the Prime Minister, in which the federation submitted four core demands on behalf of the sector:
- Restoration of the 13% VAT rate across the entire food service industry
- Abolition of the Special Consumption Tax on coffee
- Exemption of revenue generated through delivery, phone, and online orders from the transient visitors tax
- Elimination of social insurance contribution surcharges for work on public holidays, night shifts, and Sundays, regardless of employment contract type
During the meeting, it was emphasized that the generation of fiscal surpluses and the return of a portion of those surpluses to the real economy cannot leave the food service sector trapped under tax and fiscal policies that hark back to the austerity memorandum era. The discussion also extended to a range of issues affecting the day-to-day operations of food and beverage establishments. It was noted that many of the proposed interventions can be implemented without requiring a fiscal equivalent, while making a meaningful contribution to business sustainability and employment growth.
POESE will promptly submit a detailed memorandum outlining its proposals, with the aim of documenting the longstanding structural problems facing the sector and advancing concrete solutions for the organized food service industry as a whole.
