The Government will maintain control over supermarkets, at least until the end of the year. The objective is to monitor that they effectively transfer to the final prices the VAT reduction of certain basic foods that came into force on January 1 and through which the Executive estimates that households will save a total of 1,320 million euros in this year.
In principle, it was not planned that the Ministry of Economic Affairs would commission the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) to update the first and only report published by the organization last July, in which it confirmed that the supers Yes, they were transferring the VAT reduction to the prices. But sources from the department headed by Nadia Calviño tell EL MUNDO that it has been decided to commission another study.
The order has not yet occurred. This is indicated by the CNMC, where, as of today, “there is no plan to update this report.” “The CNMC considers that betting on efficient and competitive markets is an essential tool to help contain inflation (also in the field of food) and to protect the purchasing power of households, especially those with lower incomes,” they add. from Competition.
However, when consulted about this, the Ministry of Economic Affairs does say that, “surely”, a new report will be requested, although they avoid specifying what date. For the Government, it is key to know the global impact of the measure on price translations throughout the year, since the conclusions issued by the CNMC in the July report were based on price data collected up to the month of May, that is In other words, it doesn’t cover even half of the exercise.
Since the Executive has extended the measure until the end of the year – its maintenance until December 31 depended on underlying inflation remaining above 5.5% in September and it has not fallen below that level until October – it is essential Let Competition re-examine whether supermarkets have reflected the tax reduction in their final prices and this has allowed households to save those promised 1,320 million euros.
In the July report, the CNMC found, based on the prices analyzed in the ten main retail distribution groups nationwide (Alcampo, Aldi, Bon Preu, Carrefour, Consum, DIA, El Corte Inglés, Eroski, Lidl and Mercadona ) between December 2022 and May 2023, which had not detected “systematic indications of lack of tax transfer”, thus proving the supermarkets right, which have been defending since the measure came into force that they are acting correctly and are transferring the reduction of the tax on prices.
However, monitoring reports from the consumer association Facua on the evolution of almost a thousand foods affected by the VAT reduction in eight large distribution chains (Alcampo, Aldi, Carrefour, Dia, Eroski, Lidl, Hipercor and Mercadona ) reveal that more than half of the products analyzed (specifically, 52.4%) have increased in price compared to what they had at the beginning of the year.
From Facua they insist that “according to the royal decree law by which the measure is in force, none of these products can increase in price unless there are increases in costs” and they complain to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, to which they have filed dozens of complaints. , to act in the face of “price increases that violate the limitations established in the legislation.”
Facua demands that the department headed by Alberto Garzón open an investigation to determine which products have seen increases in profit margins, something expressly prohibited in the legal text by which the tax reduction was approved. However, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs maintains that it has no powers to do so.
At the end of 2022, Vice President Calviño assured that the CNMC would be the body in charge of monitoring that distribution companies transfer the VAT reduction to the final prices of food and that, otherwise, that same body would impose sanctions. However, the CNMC later alleged that it lacks the necessary powers to be able to fine offending companies, as this media revealed.
What is within the scope of action of the organization chaired by Cani Fernández is the preparation of this type of research studies at the request of the Government. In this specific case, to analyze to what extent the level of competition in the Spanish distribution sector can influence the transfer of the VAT reduction to the final prices of food.
With the first data, collected until May, the CNMC concluded that supermarkets were indeed reflecting the tax discount in their prices and that the different levels of concentration between provinces or municipalities did not affect the degree of application of the measure. Predictably, in the coming months they will be commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to analyze what has happened until the end of the year.
