📰 VAT Removed on Basic Food Items — Effective October 17, 2025
The Ministry of Finance has announced the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) on several essential food items, effective October 17, 2025, under Legal Notice No. 380 – The Value Added Tax (Amendment to Schedule 2) (No. 2) Order, 2025.
This measure, introduced in the 2025/2026 National Budget, aims to reduce the cost of living and enhance food security by making basic grocery items more affordable to consumers.
CAIR welcomes this initiative as a positive step toward improving household access to safe and nutritious food.
#FoodSecurity #VATRelief #ConsumerProtection #TrinidadAndTobago
List of Newly VAT-Free Food Items
The following categories and specific items are now exempt from VAT:
Staples, Spices, and Condiments
Table salt
Cocoa powder, whether or not containing added sugar or other sweetening matter
Mauby (a traditional beverage)
Icing sugar
Vanilla essence
Soy sauce
Prepared mustard
Sauces and mixed condiments/seasonings, including:
Pepper sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Anchar
Kuchela
All other similar preparations
Local Produce and Fruit Products
Locally produced vegetables, including:
Pumpkin
Watermelon
Cucumber
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Guava jams and jellies in retail packages
Fruit, nuts, and other edible parts of plants, otherwise prepared or preserved (whether or not containing added sugar or spirit), including:
Banana
Plantain
Breadfruit
Sweet potato
Cassava chips
Coconut water
Grapefruit juice
Prepared Foods and Substitutes
Prepared or preserved cakes and muffins, whether or not flavoured
Soya, tofu, gluten, and vegetarian meat substitutes in any form (flavoured or unflavoured, otherwise prepared or preserved)
Other beverages containing cocoa
This measure is aimed at providing relief to consumers by reducing the cost of these commonly used food products at the point of sale.
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