More Slovak produce on the shelves of food retailers and a more adequate distribution of profits. For the next parliamentary session, the minor ruling Slovak National Party plans to propose a special tax on retail chains to raise money to support local food production. According to the party, the profits of retailers are now inadequate when compared to Slovak farmers and food producers. The levy is proposed to an equal 2.5 percent of the net turnover of retail chains. However, the special taxation may cause a rise in food prices. Food producers worry that retailers might pass the higher tax on to producers.
"I do not want to mention specific retail chains, but there are pressures on us already," says Anna Hrnčiarová-Turčiaková from a poultry business in Kežmarok.
The food prices in Slovakia increased in the first half of 2018 by 5%, which is the biggest price hike in the whole European Union. According to the parliamentary opposition, it will mainly be the lower social classes who will feel the effect of the new taxation. On the other hand, the economy ministry claims that chain retailers in Slovakia, when compared to Western Europe, have twice or three times higher revenues. The tax should thus help Slovak farmers and food producers.
"We need to return the finances to those get the short end, due to unequal distribution," says Milan Lapšanský from the Agriculture Ministry. If the proposed legislation passes through parliament, it should come into action in January 2019.
