Cyprus Consumers Association challenges zero-VAT rollout and price monitoring

Nicosia, Cyprus. The Cyprus Consumers Association has criticised the authorities’ oversight of the zero-VAT extension to five additional categories of essential goods, saying consumers did not receive the full savings.

Monitoring finds price increases and incomplete reductions

In a statement covering its price monitoring from September 30 to October 17, the association reported increases both before and after implementation, alongside VAT-related reductions that did not deliver the full expected benefit.

The finance ministry announced the additional support aimed at living costs on September 30. The zero-VAT extension became effective after midnight on October 11.

According to the association, eight products recorded average price increases of one to seven cents between the announcement and October 11, the day preceding implementation.

For October 12, the first day the measure applied, the association put the average VAT reduction at 3.76 per cent. That figure reached 4.3 per cent on October 13 and 4.5 per cent on October 14.

It also reported that, three days into implementation, average prices for three products had risen by two to four cents.

Association disputes official assessments

The findings challenged the Consumer Protection Service’s public assessment, issued the day after implementation, that the rollout had been smooth.

Rejecting that assessment, the association said the average first-day reduction was below 4 per cent, rather than the expected 5 per cent.

The Consumer Protection Service, part of the trade ministry, subsequently issued a written announcement on October 15, three days after implementation, stating that the measure had been applied to a very large extent. The service also released a table showing the prices it had recorded.