The value-added tax on old and young white brine cheeses should be reduced from 1 to 21 percent from January 7, the ministries of agriculture and finance agreed.
The Ministry of Finance should prepare an amendment to the law and send it to the Parliament, which should adopt it by the end of the year. According to the data of the Ministries of Agriculture and Finance, this tax reduction would have a negative impact on the budget of two million euros, but at the same time it would be a great benefit for domestic producers, mostly rural households.
"White brine cheeses in Montenegro are produced from cow's, sheep's and goat's milk. Recently, traditional cheeses have also been produced in industrial conditions in milk processing plants and play a dominant role in consumption. By reducing the tax rate from 21% to 7%, brine cheeses will reach consumers cheaper. In this way, cheeses will enter legal sales channels, and in this way they will be competitive with cheeses that are sold at doorsteps, at green markets and the like where VAT is not charged. "White brine cheeses were chosen for the reason that we have a lot of producers - about two thousand farms in Montenegro process milk into cheese, of which the largest number are engaged in the production of brine cheeses", stated "Vijesta" from the Ministry of Agriculture.
In addition to farms, brine cheeses are also produced in dairies. In this way, as announced by the Ministry, there will be positive effects on the entire chain of production - cheaper prices for consumers, sales through legal channels, as well as support, i.e. increasing the income of cheese producers.
"In the coming period, we will continue with the practice of support in the form of reducing the tax rate for certain products that would have a great impact on agricultural producers and consumers. On this occasion, we once again invite all agricultural producers to register their farms in order to obtain support for the start-up, development and expansion of their production through numerous development measures", the Ministry stated.
At the proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture, VAT on eggs was previously reduced.
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