ProVeg International, a Berlin-headquartered plant-based food charity, is calling for an end to what it calls the “unequal and unfair” rates of taxation of plant-based milks compared with the lower rates applied to cow’s milk.
The group says that in six countries across Europe, VAT on plant-based milk is significantly higher than it is on cow’s milk. In Germany, for example, VAT on soya milk is 19%, but only 7% on cow’s milk – equating to a 171% higher rate for the plant-based milk. The rate is 450% higher in Italy, and 150% higher in Spain, with Greece, Slovakia and Austria also applying higher VAT rates on plant milks.
This, says ProVeg, is despite the dairy industry being a major contributor to climate change. Research by the group shows that one litre of cow’s milk requires more than 22 times more water and roughly 12 times more land, while emitting three times more greenhouse gas emissions than one litre of soya milk. Other types of plant milk such as oat and rice milk, it says, are similarly sustainable.
ProVeg International’s call to end higher VAT ratings for plant milk coincides with the launch of its new report on plant-based milks. The report, published today, explores nutrition, market data, legal frameworks, and the environmental impacts of plant milk compared to cow’s milk.
“People are literally paying a higher price for wanting to protect our planet and for being climate-conscious”
“We urge these European governments to level the playing field by taxing plant-based milk at the same rate as cow’s milk – at the very least. People are literally paying a higher price for wanting to protect our planet and for being climate-conscious,” said Sebastian Joy, Co-founder and CEO of ProVeg International.
“We are in the midst of the climate crisis, yet this outdated VAT policy stifles plant-based innovation and competition. It is unfair and inequitable and in urgent need of reform if we are serious about making progress with climate change mitigation.”
“Instead of indirectly subsidising dairy products that we know to be so damaging to our planet, we ought to be helping, supporting, and encouraging more sustainable alternatives such as plant-based milk – not taxing them at a much higher rate.”
Main image: Graphic for World Plant Milk Day, a partnership between Plant Based News and ProVeg.