State Duma proposes to cancel VAT on food with an expiring expiration date

According to the legislators' idea, this will contribute to the development of charity: stores will be more willing to distribute such goods to those in need for free.

At the same time, the authors of the legislative initiative indicate that alcohol, as well as baby and diet food products will not be subject to free distribution.

The initiator of amendments to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation was the deputies from the Liberal Democratic Party, Izvestia writes.

As a justification for the importance of such a measure, legislators point out that annually due to the expiration date in Up to 20% of food is lost in Russia.

The deputies believe that it is necessary to introduce a foodsharing program in the country — a charitable distribution of food to those in need. Officials of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Economic Development have agreed with this idea since 2022.

However, for the time being, representatives of retail chains are in no hurry to distribute overdue goods to the poor, since it is unprofitable for them: they have the right not to pay VAT only if the overdue products have been thrown away.