Will the New Government Abolish VAT on Food Donations - It Now Pays More for Companies to Throw Away Food Than to Donate It

There has been talk for years about the need to abolish VAT on food donations, but despite various appeals, initiatives, requests, this has still not happened. In the past period, NALED, the Coalition for Charity, and non-governmental organizations called for that, claiming that at this moment, it pays more for companies to destroy food than to donate it. The authorities, however, remained silent.

The fact that donations would increase by RSD 160 million by abolishing VAT did not impress them either. As well as the fact that in the European Union, 20 member states have already abolished the VAT on food donations.

While the authorities remaine silent, Serbia is at the infamous top on the list of countries that throw food away. As per the data of the Center for Environmental Improvement, each and every citizen of Serbia throws away 108 kilograms of food a year, whereas the world average is 74 kilograms.

The trade sector is "responsible" for 13% of the world`s food waste, according to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). It is estimated that the trade sector threw away 118 million tons of food in 2019. There are no data for Serbia in this area. But the impression is that companies are very interested in reducing this number.


Companies want to donate groceries


Last year, the Coalition for Charity, led by the Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation, launched the "Save Food, Save Humanity" campaign with two goals - to reduce the huge amount of food thrown away and to increase food donations for the most vulnerable citizens.

Thanks to the support of more than 35 companies, but also the equal support of citizens, who donated food during organized actions and money through the Donacije.rs platform, during the three months of the campaign a total of 69,717 kg of food have been collected and distributed in cooperation with partners. project Zeljko Mitkovski.

- We are impressed by the response of retail chains and food manufacturers, but also by other companies that have joined in, and come from other industries - banks, mobile operators, IT companies, law firms, food distributers and others. The companies themselves contacted us with the wish to get involved and help, bearing in mind that, according to data from 2019, 480,000 people cannot meet basic living needs - warns Zeljko Mitkovski.


Food is being thrown away, and the ministries remain silent


Despite the good response from the companies, the problem still persists. As our Mr. Mitkovski explains, it is currently more profitable for companies engaged in the production or sale of food to destroy the food after the expiration date, because then they do not pay VAT, instead of donating it before the expiration date, because in that case they would need to pay VAT.

Fondacija Ana i Vlade Divac

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo zaštite životne sredine Republike Srbije

Centar za unapređenje životne sredine

Ministarstvo za rad, zapošljavanje, boračka i socijalna pitanja Republike Srbije

Charity Coalition

Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation

Ministry of Finance

Ministry of Environmental Protection

Ministry of Social Affairs

Center for Environmental Improvement

UNEP

Zeljko Mitkovski

Save the Food Campaign

Philanthropy Council

VAT on food donations

food waste

food surplus

Working Group on the Draft Law on Food Surplus

Working Group on Improving the Legal Framework for Surplus Food Donation

applicable until

best used until

EU Guidelines on Food Donation