April 28, 2026 14:14

The Austrian government has decided to abandon plans for a tax on single-use plastic packaging, which was scheduled to take effect next October and was intended to offset the cost of reducing VAT on essential food products from 10% to 4.9%, estimated at €400 million for the state.

The announcement was made by State Secretary for Finance Barbara Eibinger-Miedl. The government withdrew the measure to avoid placing additional burdens on companies in the supply chain amid high costs and strong economic pressure.

In recent weeks, Austrian agricultural and trade associations had criticised the measure, arguing that it would have pushed up prices and fuelled inflation, as the cost would ultimately have been passed on to end consumers.

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